Halo Clone Wars
by Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Summary: The Republic was victorious, Sideous was slain by Anakin. The Republic moved for massive demobilization, but somehow a massive fleet ended up in an alternate universe. How can Ahsoka and other Jedi's help a race facing extinction.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

Regrets Carrier

System: Unknown

Date: Data Corruption

Terminated…….

Regret looked at the image screens within the bridge of his carrier. His fleet had just jumped into this supposedly uninhabited system a few minutes ago but to his dismay, fleet intelligence had gotten the information wrong. To his splendor was a beautiful blue-green planet with raging landmasses and vivid oceans covered by clouds.

This planet was worthy of Gods, and definitely the Covenant, however the humans had already claimed it. They desecrated it with their filthy footsteps and, to his horror, laid a trap for his miniscule fleet.

His commanders told him that at least 300 orbital battle platforms covered that planet and that they had a fleet numbering over 500 ships. The scanners tagged at least a quarter of the ships but the rest came up as unknown.

"Shipmaster, have the fleet engage the vermin and keep out of range from those platforms." Regret wheezed, "We all have seen what damage they can do to our ships."

"Yes Excellency, I have dispatched incursion pods to take out those platforms, the rest of the fleet is forming up for a broadside."

"SHIPMASTER! One of the unknown ships has a massive energy buildup, take a look," interjected the Shangelii tactical officer.

This was a huge ship, easily distinguishable to be human but much larger than any past human ship the Covenant had encountered. The scanners had picked it up to be 6 km long and giant round bulges on its sides. This ship was flanked by dagger and fin shaped ships, also not recognizable within the Covenant data banks.

"All ships form line and charge weapons, on my command unleash hell," the shipmaster thundered.

Regret looked on as his fleet started to form up and launch their single ship fighters. He consolidated himself with the known facts that human ships were inferior to his own by firepower and ruggedness. It took three of the vermin's to take out one of his picket ships and he would prove again that this was just the same case.

"Shipmaster, why haven't we engaged the humans yet? Half their fleet should be in pieces by now."

"Excellency, we are waiting for them to get in range, and for our infiltrator crafts to take out their platforms," the shipmaster responded. "As a matter of fact here they come."

The large human ship turned towards the Covenant fleet and started to have visible energy charge up on one of its bulges until it became too bright to look at. Suddenly, the human ship discharged the field right at the alien fleet.

"Brace for impact," roared the Shipmaster has the field washed over their entire fleet.

"Sir, we have lost all main and backup power, the shields and weapons are down and propulsion is lost," reported the operations officer.

"Excellency, the entire fleet is drifting; we are dead in the water."

The next thing Regret saw was the human and alien ships close in and bombard his ships with their crude projectile weaponry and also to his bewilderment, lasers. Unlike the lasers the Covenant ships used, these alien ones blasted right through the thick battle armor on his ships; even their plasma weapons couldn't have done it that easily.

One by one his ships were being destroyed, their hulls being pulverized by the constant bombardment of hypervelocity slugs and missiles, plus the high yield lasers. This continued for a few minutes until the leviathan of the human ships was sitting on top of Regret's own.

"Shipmaster, is there nothing you can do to get the power back on?" Regret questioned.

"Excellency, we have never encountered such weaponry before, even from the Forerunners. We have to get you out of here; I think the vermin are going to storm the ship."

"I will not run! I am one of the Hierarchs and the Gods are on my side. Have all troops prepare to repel boarders and get the power back on."

"As you will, Excellency." The Shipmaster bowed to Regrets commands just as a blast rocked the ship.


	2. Chapter 1: Into the Beast

Chapter 1:

The Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

Above Regret's Carrier

October 20, 2552

The vast expanse of space; cold, empty, beautiful. The massive windows of the bridge gave a panoramic view of the ghostly void full of micro lumens of stars way beyond yonder.

"One lucky shot and this room will depressurize faster than the emergency covers could compensate," Kenobi thought. "Maybe the troopers already clad in their armours will survive, but everyone else would die from cold painful asphyxiation; kind of brings peace to the mind."

The Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was one of the two modified Star Destroyers his forces helped create for the humans. The hulls had already been constructed, but that was all; no engines, electronics, weapons; nothing at all. The humans were lucky in the fact that the clones helped out in the retrofitting of all systems, plus they sped up the construction progress exponentially. Kenobi however, had to admit that the Ion Cannon being able to fire was a fluke. It hadn't even been tested.

"General Kenobi, the boarding part is ready waiting for your command"

"Excellent new Cody, was Anakin able to convince Ahsoka to don her armour?"

"To some extent sir, however I cannot see why she decides to wear such exposing garments during battle. I mean, Master Ti is also of the same race as her but she wears standardized Jedi robes," Cody remarked.

"Puberty; we all went through it Commander, even you clones. You were just able to run through it in a couple of months I believe," Kenobi chuckled. "Next time, have Rex make a move on her, it'll embarrass her to put on more conservative garments."

"Well actually, this time around Master Skywalker had to tackle and hold her while the ARC Troopers put the armour on her. I believe Fordo said it was the greatest challenge his forces had encountered so far."

"Well, this would have been a great warm-up for the mission then," Kenobi responded while trying to prevent an outburst of laughter. "Alright then Commander, tell the men to keep their head high and do their best. They are to take orders from the Spartans since they have more extensive experience in this line of battle. Master Chief John 117 will lead the assault to capture the "Prophet" therefore he has command of the ARC Troopers and Anakin will be second. Ahsoka will hold the hanger bay with Captain Rex and his squad plus a company of Human Commandos."

"I will relay the information sir; Strength and Honour"

"May the force be with us all Commander."

The LAAT/i gunships flew out towards the crippled alien carrier, the pilots breathing easy knowing that they weren't about to get blown into molecules, plus they were being escorted by the Republic ARC 170 Starfighters and the Human Longsword bombers.

The human bombers broke formation and flew low and just barely above the carrier's hull until they dropped their bombs near the bow bulge. Smoke cleared rapidly as the decompressing air started spewing out alerting the alien forces to that location; the perfect distraction.

"General Skywalker, we are making the final approach and it seems the hanger is still pressurized."

"You heard the pilot! Get your gear ready and be prepared for some multicoloured alien ass kicking," the ODST captain remarked.

"HOORAH!"

"Ahsoka, I want you to be vigilant and think with a clear head when you engage the aliens okay," advised Anakin.

"But Master, what difference does it make that you tell me now? I mean I did fight alongside you during the Clone War; I am able to watch my back and the troops under my command too, you know."

"Listen to me, my Padawan, these aren't droids we are engaging, they are flesh and blood and they can think. From the videos I have watched and analyzed, they are too dangerous to underestimate and I do not want you injured because you thought they are some derivative of 'Stick Tinnies'."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Good, and make sure the shuttles stay in one piece otherwise we are drifting back to our cruisers and you will be sharing the oxygen with the prophet," Anakin remarked.

"Thirty seconds to latch, sir"

"Alright men, keep your shots true and heads high, the force is with us all"

The gunships drifted through the energy shield and entered the hanger. The ARC Troopers immediately started to jump out of their transports and create a perimeter, along with the ODST's. The four man Spartan team split up into two groups, one was defending while the other was leading the assault.

"Okay boys, let's create some barriers and shields so we are ready when the aliens find out we are crashing their party," Ahsoka ordered.

She was gazing at the ARC Troopers as they elegantly latched their grappling hooks and shot up towards the second level with the Spartans leading. Her master just used the force to jump and land effortlessly on the railing. They were being led by one of the Humans' AI named Cortana.

"Ahsoka, the scanners are picking up contacts heading towards us," Rex informed. "We are nearly ready to repel them; one of the Spartans is just relocating to a proper vantage position."

"Well boys, get ready to party because the gates of hell are about to come crashing down on us."


	3. Chapter 2: Spear of the Triumphant

Alright ladies and gentlemen, to answer a pressing question of the backstory, I can only offer this piece of advice and it is the same thing Yoda would say, PATIENCE!!. Well maybe not as an exclamation. I am trying to fit it in with a smooth transition, I don't want to just stick a chapter with scene suddenly in the Star Wars galaxy with nothing said about going their before, am I right? Well on the other hand I am having trouble naming the second human star destroyer so I put up three options and basically let you the readers decide, the poll closes at Midnight Feb 14, 2009. Please take a second and go vote

Cheers, and enjoy the chapter.....

Regrets Carrier

October 20, 2552

Dead in Space

The grunts trembled in horror as they watched their inevitable doom approach them. The mismatched Motley boarding party was blitzing from one location to another for the past fifteen minutes trying to find the objective set before them. The AI Cortana was not able to connect with the alien computers because of the fried circuitry caused by the Ion weapon. She was only able to narrow down a few locations on the massive Covenant capital ship and all of them had turned up empty, save for some Elites and company who got caught in their way.

"Alright guys, this is the last possible location this guy could be hiding and it is the bridge. So you might expect some company when you arrive their; and going in with guns blazing might not be a good idea since we are trying to get the prophet ALIVE!" Cortana pointed out to the clones.

"Why are you talking like that hologram? We did quite easily flush those four jawed animals you know," Fordo stated.

"Yeah sure, but the prophet could have been hit by your Gung-ho assault and I do not think anyone wants to give up their morphine or what ever you carry to a shriveled up prune of a alien leader." Cortana mockingly replied. "Chief, we are approaching the bridge and I am reading a substantial number of life signs."

The team stopped at the beginning of the passageway towards the bridge with the chief motioning his hands for silence. They slowly slithered down the corridor trying to make the least amount of noise as possible. Fordo clenched his fist and motioned with two of his fingers for his troopers to take point and cover. The chief pointed towards the ODST's and with a blurry of hand movements, told them to watch the rear.

The chief then with the other Spartan grabbed the grooves on the door which would offer no resistance moving since its motors were gone. The clones tensed up with the blasters pointing at the door, ready to fire at the moments notice while Fordo started to toss a concussion grenade in his hand.

With one massive heave, the Spartans pulled the blast door open as Fordo threw the grenade like a baseball. The grenade flew and hit the gold armoured elite in the face and arced upwards exploding in a blinding flash.

The clones immediately opened fire into the center of the room rapidly draining a couple of the dazed elite's shields and stunning them with repeated shots of stun blasts. The chief leapt into the gold armored elite and disarmed him of his energy sword. He then proceeded to pound its skull into fracture with his massive gauntlet.

The rest of the aliens recovered from the blast and started to engage the assaulting party. The grunts were easily dispatched of with the blasters but the elites were able to withstand the barrage. They then engaged the ARC commandos in hand to hand combat which started to swing both ways. Some of the commandos were able to get roundhouse kicks into their opponents and knock them into the ground from which the clones proceeded to blow the alien bodies to pieces from the highest setting on their blasters. On the other end, higher ranking elites were able to grab some of the other clones by their neck and impale them with their swords.

The chief with his lightning fast reflexes threw a combat knife at the nearest adversary, skewering it into the alien's carotid. The other Spartan tackles two elites at once and quickly being able to cut one of elite's throats. The other elite being able to dodge the swipe of the Spartan's blade started to wrestle with him but to no avail as the half ton man machine hybrid was able to overpower and crush him.

"Chief! Chief! The Prophet, get the Prophet," Cortana exclaimed.

The chief gazed up and scanned the room for any signs of the alien.

Nothing.

"Search underneath the command deck."

"Of course," the chief thought, and he went off to the void underneath the command ramp.

Sure enough there was a shriveled up alien with luxurious red and gold robes with a highly decorative headpiece floating in his chair.

The Prophet shot at the chief with the chairs built in laser, but the chief rolled to the side and lunged at the alien. In a single fluid move, he grappled onto the hover-chair and yanked the prophet off.

"Could he stand out anymore?" Cortana teased. "Let's get the hell out of here before anymore aliens with a fun loving spirits show up."

"Fordo, we have the target, lets get back to the hanger," the chief ordered.

"On it sir," Fordo exclaimed as he finished dueling with the last elite. "Ahsoka, we have the target and are coming back for extraction, hold down till we arrive. Ahsoka! Are you there?"

"I hear you Captain; we are just having fun with a few of the four slack-jawed aliens. We could use some help, they are moving towards us in force, I do not know how long we can hold them." Ahsoka informed.

"General Skywalker should be at your position soon, he left to help you out; he was saying that he felt a disturbance in the hanger."

"Yeah, but that was taken care of, one of the Spartans got an overkill and rectified the situation, but then another one came up."

"Overkill?"

"You know Captain, one shot four plus kills."

"Good to know commander, we are heading back, e.t.a. about five minutes. Fordo out."

Ahsoka had been through many battles during the clone war, and was outnumbered tenfold yet she was able to emerge victorious. Now, she was deflecting shots from aliens who had personal shielding and could overpower her easily.

"Watch out! Suicide grunt," one of the human marines screamed.

Next thing she saw was Rex getting up and soccer kicking the alien back into the mass of enemies coming towards them and then seeing them vanish under a cloud of blue plasma.

"Damn Rex, when did you learn to do that?" smiled Ahsoka.

"I had plenty of practice with the clankers you and General Skywalker left for me during the numerous battles we went into," Rex responded as he fired his blaster into an oncoming horde of more aliens.

Ahsoka ignited her saber and started to cover her troops as they relocated to positions further behind.

"Damn, we are getting pushed further back, where are you Skyguy?" Ahsoka whispered to herself.

Suddenly a trio of jackels flew off the second floor and Ahsoka saw the blue lightsaber of her master.

Anakin dove into the middle of the alien cluster and started to slice through them as the clones and marines started to suppress the horde under a massive volley of bullets and lasers.

"Well looks like I just saved the day again, eh Snips," Anakin smirked as he walked towards Ahsoka.

"Skyguy! Behind you," Ahsoka screamed.

Anakin was just quick enough to catch a shot of a short continuous beam of green energy with his saber but the resulting overpressure threw him into the alien containers, knocking him out.

Ahsoka then saw two lumbering aliens enter the hanger; each easily ten feet tall with menacing spikes on their backs and orange exposed flesh. They started to line their shots again at the chosen one, but Ahsoka stepped in and deflected their shots. She being smaller was also thrown backwards by the immense overpressure of the fuel rods and was thrown into a daze.

"Rex, help." She whispered.

Rex being trained under the legendary Alpha himself was already swinging into action to take out the alien leviathans. He sprung into the air as his grappling line latched to the ceiling, swinging towards the nearest beast. He landed on top of its shoulders surprising it and confusing its bond brother. With a volley of repeated blasts from his blaster on its highest setting, he was able to easily break through the helmet of the alien and cook the colony of worms to extinction inside.

The other hunter witnessing his bond brothers' demise threw himself into a fury. He charged the Captain of the 501st with all due hate and malice, narrowly missing him as the clone was able to roll out of the path last minute.

The rest of the allied forces started to lay a barrage of firepower on the bipedal alien tank, which moved his massive battle plate shield to protect himself. Then out of nowhere, a shot echoed across the hanger, and the alien slumped forward, dead by a precision shot into it's exposed flesh.

Ahsoka woke up in a daze, the heavy ringing in her ears only amplified the headache she was having.

"Good to see you up kid, that was a nasty blow to the head you received," Rex was saying as he smiled down upon her. "The assault team has just arrived; we are getting ready to depart. General Skywalker is still out cold I'm afraid, he hit his head quite hard against that crate."

"We'll have the medics' look at him when we get back, put some Bacta bandages around any wounds, just incase," Ahsoka replied while trying to stand up.

She watched as the Humans climbed into the LAAT/i's with the prophet. Yet something was wrong, she could feel it but she didn't see anything.

"Kid, what's the matter?" Rex questioned.

"Something is not right Rex, I can feel it, there is a disturbance in this room," Ahsoka replied. "REX! GET DOWN!"

Behind the captain an energy sword activated and it swung right towards the unsuspecting clone. He was only saved by the quick reactions of the Togruta, who pushed him out of the way and blocked the blow with her lightsaber.

Ahsoka wasn't fully ready to battle yet as her head was still throbbing and her vision was yet to stabilize. Still she blocked the blows the camouflaged elite kept throwing at her, only being caught off guard when he grabbed her by the throat when he completed one of his viscous slashes.

Ahsoka saw her life run through her eyes in slow motion as the elite seemed surreal as he pivoted his sword to impale the young warrior. She closed her eyes as she was ready to make peace and join the force when she felt a sharp pain hit her face and she fell to the ground. She opened her eyes to see the elite lying limp on the floor with his head being blow into pile of gore strewn around her.

"Don't vorry young one, I vill carry you to gunship," one of the masked human commandos spoke. He swung his still smoking shotgun around his shoulder and carried the young alien to the last gunship with Rex waiting to apply aid to any wound.

As the pilots checked in to the command cruiser, the Enthrone Darkness Triumphant let loose a hellish barrage from its arsenal. Quietly, the assault force watched as the last of the Covenant force was destroyed, the ship being pounded by the high yield turbo lasers and missiles. Piece by piece the ship fell apart, losing plating and structural integrity to every shot that hit, every piercing blow it vented. Slowly, the lumbering Human ship pivoted towards the carrier and let loose a molten slug, impaling the alien cruiser.

The commandos stood quietly, watching the ship collapse into itself. Music blaring through their helmet speakers broadcasting from the Triumphant, not knowing to feel fear, shock or awe, they heard the song go into its finishing stanza:

_A flow of orgasmic fire, swept through the cosmic night_

_I enthroned darkness triumphant, with the searing trident of the Inferno……_


	4. Chapter 3: Wrath of the Triumphant

Just to let y'all know, the spelling in the second part of the chapter is intentionally spelled the way it is. I replaced a characters "W"s with "V"s so it can sound more like a Russian. Enjoy that chapter

The Lubyanka

Moscow, Amero-Soviet Union of the United Nations

October 21, 2552

Water dripped through the empty passageways within the underground stone levels inside the infamous Lubyanka. Lights flickered as they swayed from the ceiling and footsteps echoed in the supposedly empty museum of the KGB.

"Set him over there," a cold voice ordered

The prisoner was thrown into a metal chair with shackles clamping shut onto it's arms. It was still unconscious as it had endured a merciless beating the night before followed by sleep deprivation and finally a few series of injections to knock it out for the remainder of the voyage.

"Wake him up," the same voice ordered. "It is time to begin the proceedings; will the Marshall be joining us?"

"He will be here soon sir," one of the guards responded. "He is bringing a one of the visitors with him; I believe it is the alien girl."

"She'll learn a few things from here then; very well, leave us."

The guards filed out of the room and the metal door slammed shut. The only illumination came from the single incandescent bulb on top of the prisoner's head, completely blacking out the figure; who was now lighting a cigar.

Regret was slowly gaining consciousness; his senses were streaming back into his frail figure. His body ached profusely and he had a vulgar smell waft up his nostrils. It was apparent to him that it was coming from his soiled robes mixed with the smoke that was emanating from the mysterious figure.

"I'm glad you could wake up, sleeping beauty," mocked the figure. "I am sorry we weren't able to get you a proper throne, so my colleagues improvised."

"What do you want from me?" Regret wheezed.

"Listen to me you motherfucker, I ask the questions here, you just answer. If you do anything else but what I have just said, the consequences will be most…. undesirable," the figure responded coldly. "Now let us begin."

Regret tried to make the speaker out, but he could only see the embers of the object the figure was smoking and it was starting to give him a headache. The figure moved forward and then sat down pulling another chair towards him.

"For 27 years my brothers and sisters died trying to defend our race. 27 fucking years they fought and died, watched their comrades get disemboweled by some four jawed motherfuckers and gas suckers. 27 years of hell my race lived through as we watched our homes burn, our worlds get destroyed." The figure spoke coldly. "Yet, I do not blame those bastards for anything. Do you know why?"

Regret was wondering if he was supposed to reply when the figure started up again.

"Of course you don't, but I will enlighten you on that reason. They were all soldiers; they took orders from people above them and yet even those people aren't to blame. The only person to blame is you and who ever the fuck you work with," The figure said as he inhaled a long drag from the cigar. "You chose to mess around with the wrong race and now you will have to answer to me"

Suddenly four lights turned on behind the figure and the bulb on top of Regret flickered off. Regrets eyes slowly adjusted to the high intensity lumens blaring at him in all their glory. Still Regret couldn't make out the figure; the backlighting was too great for his eyes to compensate for.

"Lets begin the interview shall we; it goes like this, I ask a question and you answer," the figure stated. "However, if you answer wrong, some agony will come about. Understand?"

Regret nodded

"Tell me your highness, how many lights are their behind me?"

Regret was puzzled, are these humans really as stupid as we made them out to be?

"Four," Regret answered

Suddenly, Regret was hit by force that went through him like a thousand blades. It burned the body in the most excruciating pain; it felt like he was being bombarded by the cleansing beam.

"Wrong answer, see what I mean," the figure chuckled. "So I ask again, how many lights are their behind me?"

Regret didn't know what to say, he saw four lights behind that human, yet he was put through the most agonizing pain he knew.

"I don't know, I just see four lights," Regret remarked.

Again he was hit by the same burning fury, only this time it felt longer and more painful.

"Well for a Prophet and leader of a so called invincible race you seriously disappoint me. You cannot even tell how many lights are on? You are seriously pathetic," the figure said as he shook his head. "You know what; I will tell you how many lights there are."

Regret stared into the figures direction.

"There are three fucking lights. So tell me Mr. Prophet of the Covenant, how many lights do you see?"

Regret was dumfounded, what did he mean three lights, their were clearly four.

"There are four lights, just turn around and see them for your self," coughed Regret.

Suddenly the figure walked up to him and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"Don't you ever tell me what to do, you are now the bitch of humanity and you are at our mercy. That chip we have mounted in your head, well lets say we are just getting started with it."

With that said the figure smacked Regrets head across the metal table in front of him.

"And you know what, I can go all day your majesty."

Regret slowly picked himself up; his nose was broken by the blow to the table. The discomfort was reaching his limits as blood was trickling down his face and he couldn't move his hands. The next thing he knew, the figure placed a cloth of some sort on his nose and he felt the pain start to recede, he even felt the bones in his nose repair themselves.

"A present from our new friends; they call it 'Bacta,' it really does some miracle work. Too bad we will only use it to repair some damage on you and get back to doing some more." The figure smirked. "Now, would you like to tell me how many lights are on?"

Regret slowly lifted his head towards the obscurity of the figure, and whispered "Three."

The Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

October 21, 2552

"Ahsoka Tano; By the rite of the Council, by the will of the Force, dub thee I do; Jedi Knight of the Republic," Windu's voice boomed through the darkened mess hall.

With the precessions finished, the two flanking Jedi's turned off their light sabers and took off their hoods. One of the Jedi's was now beaming proudly towards his former apprentice, he too now was promoted but to Jedi Master.

"I congratulate you on your achievements young Ahsoka," a figure exclaimed walking towards her.

"Marshall Zhukov! Many thanks I owe you for saving my skin on that cruiser, without you I wouldn't be standing here today."

"It vas my pleasure young one but please valk vith me, ve have to get groundside." Zhukov smiled. "The politicians have a task to for us to attend, I require a Republic representative to come vith me. Master Windu, I believe you vill also be catching a shuttle to Moscow for inspections regarding the forces deployed there?"

"You are correct Marshall; it doesn't leave for another two hours though?"

"But you must get ready; the vinter in the Soviet Union isn't always pleasant."

With the formalities ended, the Marshall and the new Jedi Knight walked out, starting up a conversation on their new mission.

"But Marshall, the interrogation started already? Doesn't this conflict with the constitution of your government?" Ahsoka questioned.

"In times of emergency, the state can always prorogue the rights of citizens for the glory and protection of the greater good. I am saddened to say that the constitution has been on hiatus since the war got into full swing since 2530," Zhukov sadly stated. "But tell me Ahsoka, vhat vas it like for you back in your galaxy? I heard that a war had just ended when your fleet arrived here."

"It's a long story sir."

"Thank goodness ve have time to kill, so please enlighten me on the proceedings to your arrival. Comrade Hood has it lucky, being second in charge plus being stuck in space therefore being able to interview your Comrade, but I on the other hand had to deal with politics and state military affairs. Being head of military command is not easy." Zhukov smirked.

"Well, if you say so," Ahsoka started. "It all began about one year ago when the clone wars started to end..."


	5. Chapter 4: Reflections of the Triumphant

**Alright everyone, here is the prelude to the prologue. I just want to let everyone know that I will use the "BBY (Before Battle of Yavin (SW EP 4))" time keeping system just to keep everything simple. Oh and bdun, you better be grateful for this!  
**

**Cheers and enjoy the chapter**

----

"I was on leave after fighting the Battle of Coruscant, but my master had other issues to attend to."

Chancellor's Suite

Coruscant

Month 5, 19 BBY

"_Anakin. I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over!!_"

Anakin watched as Windu deflected the Sith lord's force lightning with his purple sabre. The frail mans skin melted to expose his true form; chiselled from the eons of using the dark arts.

"_Anakin please, I am too weak! I can help save what you love, please," _pleaded Sidious.

Anakin begged Windu to arrest the dark lord but he refused, claiming that man was too powerful, had too many corrupt officials under his power, a man too powerful for even the Jedi to hold.

Then in front of Anakin's eyes, Windu raised his lightsaber; moments from striking the killing blow. He couldn't bear to watch this go through; his emotions were getting the best of him, his love for Padme was too strong.

"_NOOOOOO!_" Anakin screamed as he cut off Windu's sword hand.

"_What had have I done? I am sacrificing everything for my own selfish needs. No, I cannot let everything I have held dear for my whole life go right through my fingers, I am the Chosen One, the bringer of balance to the force, the supposed destroyer of the Sith; here I am helping him. No! Will not go through_," Anakin thought to himself.

Windu had just got blasted with the force lightning hand, Sidious initiated the force push.

Anakin watched as one of the greatest masters of the Jedi Order was blown through the suite's windows.

With all his concentration and powers, Anakin called out to the force and pulled Windu back into suite, flinging him a bit too hard against the opposing wall.

Windu staggered back up, his arm still throbbing from losing his hand. In front of his very eyes, Anakin activated his lightsaber and started to confront the Sith Lord.

"You lied to me! You used me for your own nefarious needs!" Anakin screamed. "Joining you would have killed Padme, nothing else."

Tears started to stream down Anakin's eyes.

"My master told me that our own destiny was not written for us, we ourselves make it through our deeds and acts," Anakin trembled under the burden of his emotions. "You will harm the Republic no more."

"ANAKIN! PLEASE!" Sidious exclaimed as the blue sabre cut right through the base of his neck.

The rippling effect through the Force did not go unnoticed as many Jedi's looked to the heavens. They felt the sceptre of the Sith dissolve and the burden being lifted from within the realms of the Force.

Windu got up as he watched Anakin fall to his knees, still sobbing over his misdeeds. Anakin looked up as the master put his arm around the saviour of the republic and called a gunship for pick up.

"General, are you okay?" the trooper asked as he walked into the suite. "What happened to the chancellor?"

"He was perpetrator of the Clone Wars, he was the Sith Lord."

"Have his body brought back to the temple," Windu ordered as he motioned Anakin to his feet. "We must go Skywalker; there are a lot of proceedings that we have to go through."

----

Spire of the High Council

Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Month 5, 19 BBY

"Lost three of our finest Jedi's we did, but the outcome was for the best, indeed." Yoda spoke as he eyed a couple of young Jedi's standing in the center of the room.

Anakin felt ashamed for letting his emotions nearly destroy the Republic, the Jedi, himself and letting down his padawan. He looked at the floor as he felt all the remaining Jedi Council members gaze at him, probably contemplating which punishment would befit his actions.

"Jedi's have never sought vengeance Skywalker, and we do not intend to do it now," Windu smiled at the knight. "You proved to me that you can be trusted and the fact that you were indeed the chosen one. Ahoska, you should be proud to be trained by him."

"Now Skywalker, discuss your relationship with Senator Amidala we must. Go against the code you did when you married her; lied you have all these years to keep your marriage a secret. Feel good doesn't it to have the burden taken off?" Yoda asked.

"Yes it does Master, and I apologize for my behaviour over all these years," Anakin solemnly spoke. "I request that I be removed from the High Council until I am ready for such a noble position. That is if I don't get expelled from the Order."

"We will not expel you Skywalker," Windu spoke. "However, putting you on the council was Palpatine's decision and as you have said, you still have much to learn. We will reinstate you once your padawan has completed her training plus you will have achieved the rank of Jedi Master by then."

"With this said and done, discuss we must your relationship with Senator Amidala." Yoda spoke as he shifted in his chair. "Great danger this relationship poses for you and her. See this first hand you have when Palpatine used the relationship for his own needs."

"I see your point Master, what would you have me do?"

"Divorce you must, hard this may seem, but for the greater good it is." Yoda calmly explained. "Strong your bonds are, but prevents and shortcomings to your and the senators careers it does."

"That may be a problem Mast…"

"Explain!" Windu sternly cut Anakin off.

"Well, she is kind of ummm, pregnant with my child." Anakin blushed.

"Oh, Anakin!" Obi Wan shook his head and smiled as his hologram flickered. "You were always reckless."

"This is most interesting, may I suggest that we take custody of the child," Plo Koon asked. "There is a good chance that it will be force sensitive and both the mother and father can check on it at their will, since one will reside in the temple while the other is just a stone throws away."

"Reasonable idea it is; debate this we must."

"Anakin, you and your padawan may leave; we will inform you of our decision about your child after the debate." Windu spoke as he put his chin on his robotic hand, immersing himself to the idea. "In the mean time, inform the Senator about the conclusions in this meeting."

"Thank you Masters, you are most merciful"

"Not at all Skywalker, just learn from your mistakes is all that we ask. May the force be with you both," replied Shaak Ti.

---

Mandator II Star Dreadnought (Renamed Mercy)

Coruscant

Month 5, 18 BBY

Vengeance! That is all that she sought after the Jedi ruined her life, killed her masters and corrupted the teaching of the force for their own good. She would have her revenge as she latched onto the maintenance hatch and started to cut her way through it. The crimson red lightsaber effortlessly went through the battle plating, making it glow red hot as the sabre went around it.

With a clang, the hatch fell to the ground, and she jumped up into the maintenance hallway, slithering into another access point, disappearing as a couple of clone sentries marched by to check out the problem with the hatch.

"General Kenobi, I believe we have an intruder on board, it appears that this person has cut through our hatch, but the ship was left behind."

"Trooper, guard the point, I will dispatch the ARC Troopers to hunt the stowaway and send reinforcements."

"Yes sir."

---

"Anakin, it seems we have an unwanted visitor on board, could you please check it out?" Kenobi asked.

"Master Windu is already on it, I am just finishing up with Padme, please give me a moment."

"Alright, just don't take too long, we have a schedule to keep up with you know." Kenobi replied as he cut off the transmission.

"Well Padme, is it official? Are Luke and Leia accepted?"

"Master Yoda personally took them in, they seemed quite happy being held by him." Padme sadly smiled. "It is comforting to know that they will be raised under good hand and that we can see them grow up."

"Yes, indeed." Anakin replied. "Did Chancellor Organa really have to demobilize the entire Open Circle Fleet? It was the most illustrious in the war. I mean at least a portion could be held onto to help with ensuring security."

"You know Ani that the Outer Rim worlds requested this because of the memories the fleet brought upon about the war." Padme spoke as she brushed her hair. "Personally, this was for the best, and the Chancellor did us a favour too. He did keep the entire divorce proceedings under wraps so that only the high court, the Jedi Order and he himself knew about our relationship."

"I know, but it will be hard for the clones to accept civilian life. Could you however do me one last favour, please?"

"What is it now Ani?" Padme questioned stiffly.

"Well, Captain Rex and the ARC Troopers have really been unsettled about leaving their commissions, so I was wondering if you talk with Organa to have them reassigned to the Senate Guards."

"I'll see what I can do, have a safe trip Ani," Padme smiled.

"Send love to Luke and Leia."

"I will," and she cut the transmission.

---

"Well, took long enough," Obi Wan smiled as Anakin walked into bridge.

"Sorry, making sure the kids were alright and all," Anakin replied as he checked the nav computer. "Are we ready to jump?"

"Yes I suppose, we still haven't been able to locate that stowaway; this ship is too large for playing hide and seek," Kenobi replied as he stared out of the massive windows of the bridge.

"Well, looks like the perpetrator will be coming with us to Kuat; I'll have the clones run a sweep one we are in hyperspace." Anakin said as he finished sending the coordinates to the fleet of 450 ships. "The capacitors are charged, and the destination coordinates are locked, you can give the order Obi Wan."

"Captain, tell the fleet they can jump," Kenobi ordered.

---

She did not know what line to sever, one of them had to be the link to the navigation computer. She had to act now, the ship was about to jump, severing it at the right moment could send the ship into infinite voyage in hyperspace. The Republic designs stated that the yellow stripes would carry the lines for navigation.

She activated her sabre, and slashed right through the cable, severing it cleanly in half.

Alarms started to wail, and a strange sense of vertigo fell through her body. The gravitational field within the ship was getting higher, this couldn't be right.

---

"Anakin, what's happening?" Kenobi asked with a worried tone.

"The gravity well generators have activated, they are going past operational limits! Tell the fleet not to jump!"

"TOO LATE!" one of the operations officer exclaimed as he pointed towards the window.

The space around the fleet had started to warp, funnelling a few hundred kilometres underneath the Mercy. The generators had created a micro black hole, mimicking a point charge, but as Quantum Mechanics had stated, there had to be an exit point. In a split second, the entire fleet fleet's hyperdrives activated after their countdown ended. The field grew and it sucked the entire fleet into the point and disappeared as the Mercy went through the field, along with the entire remnants of the Open Circle Fleet.


	6. Chapter 5: Birth of the Triumphant

The hull of the shuttle started to glow red hot as it grazed the Earth's atmosphere; jolting the passengers inside.

"Pilot, orbit the planet for an hour or so, we are in no rush," Zhukov spoke as he took off his overcoat.

Ahsoka noticed that the Marshall was quite massive even with his greatcoat taken off but not like a beast with it on. He brought over a tray of steaming cups which gave off an aromatic smell into the cabin.

"Earl Grey Tea!" the Marshall boomed as he passed cups along to all the passengers. "Made from the finest black tea's from Assam; now my good friends, tell me what happened when you arrived here."

"Well," Mace Windu started as he reached for the piping hot cup. "We had just exited the anomaly when….."

---

Jedi Star Dreadnought Illustrious  
Solar System  
September 30, 2552

"Captain, report!" Anakin exclaimed as the massive dreadnought exited the anomaly.

"General, we seem to have created a gravitational anomaly from our 'grav well generators,' and it seems the fleet's hyperdrive activation distorted the black hole to create a temporary wormhole of some sort." The clone captain reported as he tried to make sense of the sensor readout regarding the wormhole."

"Well, that is most interesting," Kenobi smirked as he stared out of the viewport. "We are alive because of an anomaly based upon a harmony of mathematical precision and pure luck. Besides, would anyone care to tell me what planet I am staring at?" The Jedi master stroked his greying beard. "The absence of the giant orbital ring tells me we are not at Kuat."

"We will find out soon enough sir, it appears the inhabitants are sending a welcome party," the captain remarked as he pointed to the tagged contacts on the viewport.

"What can you make of them Captain?" Kenobi still stared at the lush blue and green planet.

"Well from what I have gathered so far, the average ships in their fleet have numerous pods lining their hulls and they number from tens and hundreds to a couple ships having over a thousand. From what I can make out, it appears that they may house missiles or torpedoes, and all of the ships at least have one mass driver." The captain reported as the specs reflected off his eyes. "Our scanners also show that the ships are constructed of simple alloys, and they range in thickness from ship to ship."

"So, they pose no serious threat to us," Kenobi enquired.

"Put it this way Master; a squadron of interceptors could easily take on those ships with nothing more than their lasers." Anakin smirked as he gazed at the incoming readouts.

"Well, there is no need to start another war or make new enemies for that matter; let us try to make contact and see if they can help us in this predicament of ours." The master suggested as the deck officers made ready for first contact.

--

The dropships entered the massive dorsal landing strip, slowly coming to a halt in their respective hangers. The engines calmly whined down as the rear doors hissed open and a ramp lowered onto the deck with a thud.

The envoy of humans stepped out as Kenobi walked to meet them. In front of him stood a greying and stocky old man in a crisp white uniform with gold leafs embedded on his shoulders and cuffs.

"Admiral Hood," Kenobi greeted with a smile and a firm handshake. "I am General Kenobi and I welcome you to the Illustrious; please follow me to the briefing room, I have refreshments awaiting us."

"Many thanks for your hospitality General," the admiral responded as he started towards the corridor Kenobi motioned towards.

The Jedi Master watched as the envoy started to follow his clones, while he took notice of the three massive soldiers in some green power exoskeleton. He couldn't sense anything within the suits while he could recognize the admiral through the Force, and their visors kept them completely faceless.

"This is most interesting," Kenobi muttered to himself as he rushed to catch up with the party.

--

She gazed into the meeting room, watching the foreign humans take their seats after greeting some of the flag officers of the Republic. She noticed the alien soldiers in the exoskeletons, observing the rare chance humanity received on a peaceful welcome from an alien race.

She clung to the shadows of the intersection of beams as a party of clones marched past, completely devoid of her presence. Lightly grazing the deck, she zigzagged silently across the corridor until her body pressed against blast doors to briefing hall.

Punching the button, the doors hissed open as she rolled the thermal detonator into the room. Pausing for a couple of seconds, the fireball exploded out of the room, simultaneously she bolted in and grabbed the human admiral and held him at gun point.

"Ventress, don't," Kenobi got up coughing as smoke cleared the room while Human and Republic officers alike lay on the floor unconscious and bleeding. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't take another step, Obi Wan," Ventress hissed as she pulled out a cylindrical tube and held it in her free hand while her forearm choked the Human admiral. "I have more thermal detonators in the engine room and with the matter – antimatter stores, ready to blow."

"Why are you doing this?" Obi Wan questioned again. "I thought we were at peace."

"Vengeance," Ventress whispered as she back stepped to the door, still holding the Human hostage as she spotted the soldiers in the green exoskeletons slowly move towards her. "Not another step! Or I will blow us all up!"

Suddenly she felt a searing pain rip through her abdomen as the detonator was ripped out of her hand while the gun was simultaneously pried out.

The human ran towards the Jedi Master as Assaj Ventress turned around to see her adversary. There it stood, easily over two meters tall in an olive green power armour with its gold visor staring down upon her. Moving fluidly, she reached for her light sabre as the machine moved with lightning reflexes and knocked it out of her hands and smacked her across the face, causing her to fly into the bulkhead.

Dazed and confused, Ventress tried to pick herself up as the faceless soldier came up and grabbed her head and swung her into the air. The gauntlet started to squeeze into her temples and skull as the massive force caused a searing migraine to ripple through her brain.

Ventress let out of fiery scream as the entire room heard her skull start to crack and splinter, causing even the Jedi's stomach to regurgitate at the sight.

"No, don't" Kenobi yelled as the Spartan slammed the Sith queen into the deck floor head first and a split second later his armoured foot crashed down onto her skull, completely pulverizing it into soup of blood, brains and bone fragments.

--

The gunships rumbled through the turbulent atmosphere as they headed towards the derelict shipyards on the planets surface. Thunder and lightning blew through the skies and shook the air convoy with undue malice as the beats of heavy guitars and bass rumbled through their cabins, progressively getting faster and harder.

Passing underneath the planets newly formed stratosphere, the skies started to settle down as the surface came into view. Molten metals flowed freely down the volcanoes that were easily a few miles high and into the gorges that vanished deep into planet's red crust.

The double kicks of the bass drums started to rip through the air inside the ships as a nearby volcano erupted into a hell storm of molten rock deep into the upper atmosphere.

"_Tonight we ride the clouds of fire;_

_We sit with gods of our death's desire;  
We fear no mortals in these worlds;"_

"Molten Titanium," one of the human soldiers piped over the blaring lyrics; "One good thing that came from terra-forming the damn planet," the grin on his face grew as the small craft shook from the emanating shockwave. "Oh and here we are finally."

Out into the distance, cranes and lifts started to appear but they were easily dwarfed by the empty hulks that lay in between them.

The envoy of Republic and Humans alike got off the docking Pelicans and proceeded to inspect the derelict hulks in the ghost yard, their existence forgotten for decades.

"These were to be our finest ships," the UNSC admiral spoke as the slapped the metal hull. "The goddamn bureaucrats thought it would be better if we had smaller ships in greater numbers, but those melted faster than an ice cube near a blowtorch." The wrinkles on his face started to become more pronounced with the hate that built within him; "they wanted em scrapped, but nobody was willing to take on the task so they forgot them here with the entire yard. This is purest form of titanium and its alloys you can find," He forked into a new topic. "They come straight from that volcano which ejects em from this planets mantle. Goddamn, Mars has changed since we first colonized her."

"My men can start fitting your…..'Ships' right away," Kenobi offered as stared into the empty interior. "Looks like they only need weapons, wiring, engines,…"

"Everything except the hulls," Hood finished Kenobi off. "How long do you think it will take to get them up and running?"

"My most conservative guess would be about a month or so," the Jedi Master replied. "You will defiantly have enough time to come up with nice names for them."

"I already have one for this," Hood smacked the nearest hulk of metal.

"Oh," Kenobi looked puzzled and surprised; "and what would that be?"

"The Enthrone Darkness Triumphant," Hood spoke with pride, "Cause darkness is exactly what the Covenant will receive while we are Triumphant.


	7. The Coup of the Triumphant Updated

Just to let everyone know, I am getting rid of the marshalls accent, it keeps throwing me off when I write it like that and spellcheck goes nuts. I'll just say he was acting the whole time, i'll be sure to put it in the chapter 5 when I get it done.

Cheers

--

The Palace of the Soviets

Moscow, Amero - Soviet Union of the United Nations

October 22, 2552

The stampede of thundering soldiers hammered the stone stairways of the massive skyscraper, as the heavily armed commandos of the Red Army flanked the massive landing pad. Their matte black armour encased their bodies against the frigid weather of Moscow, the helmets kept them faceless only the red stars on their shoulders identified their unit. Throughout the organized chaos, two men calmly walked the same path, taking their time as they observed the sky for an approaching bird to drop from the heavens. Their massive black greatcoats fluttered in the cold breeze as their sheep skin papakha's supported the infamous gold sword superimposed on a shield, the inscriptions around the sword roughly translated to "The Sword and the Shield;" the mark of the KGB.

"They are late," one of the agents spoke to the other as he kept scanning the horizon, waiting for a speck to appear.

"It was on the Marshall's orders," the other replied as he scanned his data pad, in search for more information.

"We must proceed with undo haste when they do arrive; we do not have much time before the ONI move in on us."

"Indeed."

--

The shuttle entered the atmosphere, slicing through the layers of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen like a hot knife through butter. The hull glowed red hot as the density of the molecules started to increase, slowing the craft down to mere hypersonic speeds. With a jolt the occupants of the craft were thrown against their seats as the pilots engaged the retro-burners, trying to shave off more velocity as they approached their destination.

The foreign visitors gazed out of the windows, trying to catch a glimpse of where they were headed. After a couple of minutes a city grew out of the horizon with a winding river cutting right threw its center, splitting a massive colorful fortress and a part of the metropolis from the rest. A few blocks down from the fortress a giant skyscraper grew, ascending into the heavens, finally coming to an end at the tip of the finger from the colossal statue standing on the roof.

The shuttle spun 180 degrees within its radius and dropped towards the awaiting pad, its ventral thrusters hissing every so often trying to keep the ship level and dropping at a constant rate. With a 'clang' the landing legs hit the pad, and the door hissed open with a ramp simultaneously lowering to the ground. A young girl in her late teens exited first, her headtails slightly fluttering with the cold breeze while her body was shielded by her egg shell white armor encased with some luxurious furs. She was followed a tall, muscular black man who also wore the same type of armor, but his gaze itself could cause all hell to freeze over. Immediately afterwards the Marshall exited, his wolf skin greatcoat was shrouded with gold leafs defining his rank, along with a gold lanyard running down from his shoulder to his third button. He placed his silver papakha on his head, straightening it like it was second nature so that the emblem of the Red Star was centered with his nose and walked towards the two awaiting agents.

"Jeffers, Johnston! Quite a party you have waiting for me," he boomed as he grasped each the agent's hands. "Tell me we don't have any surprises, you know how much I dislike surprises."

"Well Sir, we do have a predicament," Johnston spoke as he glace over to Jeffers, motioning him to explain.

"Admiral Parangosky," Jeffers spoke with a bit of fear in his voice, which was unheard of coming from a KGB agent. "She is going to take you out sir."

"Apparently, you pissed her off by taking the Covenant scumbag for yourself sir," Johnston spoke as he started to walk towards the awaiting armoured vehicles; hinting everyone to do the same. "From what I hear, she was all ready to interrogate him, and probably make love to him too."

"Yeah, I hear she hasn't had a good fuck since she promoted Admiral what's his face." Jeffers chuckled. "She's 97 years old! Who in the right mind would want to do a woman with more wrinkles than a dried up prune?"

"Going back to topic," Zhukov interrupted. "What is she up to?"

"She wants to frame you for a coup attempt by instigating a coup herself, sir," Jeffers replied, his face suddenly morbid. "She has been vying vengeance ever since you prevented her from getting her fourth star back, and I think you nailed the coffin when you decided to have the KGB interrogate the Prophet."

"We are trying our outmost to make sure this doesn't go through sir, we even had the Kremlin guard replaced," Johnston explained has he opened the door to the armoured limo. "Jessica is also looping and tying up Section 3's black ops with some of her own tricks."

"Were does the loyalty of all the forces in Moscow lie with?" Zhukov asked as he stepped into the vehicle.

"With you of course Marshall," a hologram spoke as it flickered out of an imbedded emitter within the limo. "You definitely know the forces will always side with you, especially due to your exceptional leadership skills. However, the Kremlin guards are not regulars, but paramilitary."

"With whom did you replace them with, then?"

"The remnants of the Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light infantry Sir," Jessica said as her image flicked her blonde hair back. "Brigadier Sodhi is in command and he is eagerly awaiting you arrival."

"Raj is here! That is excellent news; this will most definitely go much smoother with his forces stationed here." The Marshall smiled as he nudged over to make room for his guests. "What is Parangosky fielding?"

"The Rangers of Section IV sir," Jeffers responded looking even grimmer. "They are the best soldiers the ONI can field after the Spartans."

"These Spetsnaz will be our guard, if need be the Sikhs will come assist and disarm the Rangers while Parangosky is arrested."

"We can also assist, can't we Master?" Ahsoka spoke, causing everyone to turn around and look at the two Jedi's.

"No, I cannot let you two be harmed by such an event," Zhukov spoke with his face in his hands, not expecting to deal with such bull shit with the fate of humanity on the brink of extinction. "I will deal with this myself, and then we can prepare for the real fight."

"Let's get moving then," Johnston recommended as he motioned the Jedi's into the limo. "We will follow, Sir," and he shut the door.

As the limo pulled away the agents got into their personal Warthog.

"I was wondering," Jeffers said as he strapped himself in behind the wheel. "That black guy, he kind of....."

"Looks like the guy from that film we watched," Jeffers finished him off.

"Yeah, the one with the snakes on a plane, I think."

They both looked at each other, and shook their heads.

"Nah."

--

The Kremlin

"Sergei Nikolaivich," a tall bearded man with an imposing turban boomed as the Marshall stepped out. "How good to see you my good friend, my god the battles have aged you well."

"The same can be said about yourself Raj; my deepest sympathies to your regiment my good friend." Zhukov responded as he embraced his protégé. "They fought and died well on Reach."

"We will have our vengeance in this life or the next," the brigadier responded. "My forces are ready for that ONI bitch to do her worst; her rangers cannot hold up against my Jawans," his fingers motioned the mass of bearded soldiers guarding the walls and patrolling the inner fortress. They all wore heavy armour but had turbans instead of helmets, making them look taller than they actually were and more furious.

"We will crush the traitors swiftly and with impunity," Sodhi roared. "They are within deaths embrace."

"Have your men ready for action, Parangosky's birds will be here within the hour," Zhukov grumbled as he walked towards the palace. "Do what the rangers say until I give you my signal, then you may unleash hell if you so decide."

"And what would be this signal?"

"Prudence's Fall"

--

The flight of Pelicans screamed through the city, zigzagging their way through the buildings and monuments. People on the streets looked on in disbelief to see aircraft flying so low which barely cleared the signs. Once the birds reached the Moskva, they changed course to follow the body of water, causing a massive wake to follow them and smash against the numerous bridges that crossed the river. As they reached their destination, the pelicans suddenly flung up and over the Kremlin walls and came to a hover above a wide boulevard.

The rangers of Section IV grappled out of their birds and onto the pavement below, creating a circular perimeter as the pelicans started to float around the Kremlin compound. An Albatross then landed in the middle of the newly created perimeter and an entire company of rangers marched out followed by what seemed to be a witchlike figure in a white naval officer's uniform. The amount of gold leafs she had on her tunic clearly signified that she held a flag rank.

"Major! What the hell are the Sikhs doing here?" Parangosky croaked as she walked briskly towards palace. "Have the rangers take control of the compound," then she spun around and looked the man directly in his eyes. Her cold hard stare froze time around him and the next words impaled him like a thousand spears. "Exterminate them if you have to but I want the compound under my control, understand?" "Yes Admiral!" "Good, have one of your men execute my orders, you will accompany me inside."

She watched has the major briefed his captain about her orders, and analyzed the grim face the company XO made, apparently he had feelings for fellow soldiers whom he never met and would never meet again.

The duo walked into the palace leaving the captain shouting his orders to his fellow comrades, who did not notice the massive brigadier walking towards him.

--

"Margaret, I do not see why you had to intrude this meeting? I would have arranged a meeting with you afterwards," the Marshall spoke with a very calm demeanor. "Unless you want to meet our new guests, but I thought you met some of them with Hood?"

"I did not come here about that Sergei," Parangosky whispered coldly. "But about your intrusion into ONI matters, and also about a personal note."

"Oh, and what would that be? Did I forget to reject your personal invitation to your bed?" A widening grin started to grow across the Marshalls face. "

SHUT UP YOU!"

"It's shut up, Marshall. Have you forgotten your manners and the fact that my coat has more gold? Maybe your eye sight has finally started to deceive you my dear woman; you should call it quits now, shouldn't you?"

"THAT'S IT!" Parangosky roared as she walked aggressively towards Zhukov. "I am relieving you of your post; you will be tried by the ONI for acts of treachery for personal gain and sabotage."

"That is treason in itself; I am the Marshall of all the UN forces, Chief of the Joint Chiefs! You really think the public or the armed forces will fall for that?"

"I will execute it like Beria and Stalin's purge back in the 20th century," she whispered. "You do not stand a chance against the ONI."

The Marshall just simply shook his head and stared at her.

"How will you make that happen? You are in the middle of Moscow with the entire Red Army plus the Armies of the UN loyal to me. Plus, how would you like it if I was to suddenly spill the beans on how much you embezzled from the war chest for your own needs, or how expensive and faulty all your projects are? Except of course for the Spartans, but I still think the public will be outraged over the deaths of countless children sent on missions deep in Covenant space?"

"You wouldn't dare but if you want to play it that way, what would the public think of the good Marshall creating the KGB or the fact that you have number of underground projects, lets name a few shall we:" Parangosky spoke as the started to motion her fingers. "There is the Strategic Rocket Forces; the UNSC would love this one, the Space Forces, the Spetsnaz GRU and what's with this 89th air wing?"

"All I can say to you Margaret is that I can spill the information but you can't," Zhukov happily informed.

"Oh and how do you say that, I control the ONI and you know Section II controls the media, that makes me the most powerful figure. How can you beat me when I control the propaganda?"

"Because I fried all your servers," Jessica spoke as her hologram suddenly flickered on. She stared at the admiral with her hands crossed behind, her gleaming eyes and the gold lighting around gave her an image of an angel.

"You! But how did you get past..." Margaret stuttered.

"Upgrades!" Jessica smiled. "Your firewalls did not stand a chance against my offensive attack barriers, plus your AI's got a taste of being ripped into pieces, plus the KGB techs were kind enough to point out the critical saturation points at your bunker in Sydney."

Everyone looked at her with confusion.

"To put it simply, I shoved whatever transistor the ONI still used into critical overload and they just fried themselves. The AI's however were a different story, I had to team up with Cortana to take them all out." Jessica shrugged her shoulders as she continued on. "Hurts to know that one of your own creations has worked against you."

Suddenly Zhukov stood up and gracefully walked towards the admiral. "I think it is time to call it quits Margaret, I will give you a fair trial plus I will pardon you from the death sentence."

"I don't think so Sergei, not know, I will have my vengeance!" She hissed. "Major! take him out."

"Jessica, the signal!" The Marshall spoke as he watched Parangosky's crony reach for his holster.

--

"I am very saddened by the events your forces had to go through, sir," the captain said. "I do not how you remain so strong after watching so many of your brother's die."

"Sometimes you just need a strong will, and that in itself will guide you through the most turbulent storms," the Brigadier spoke as he eyed his soldiers forming up.

"Why didn't you resist my orders sir?"

"Because I am not stupid Captain, I know you serve Parangosky and I do not feel like crossing her, besides I rather lead my men against the Covenant."

Suddenly the speakers started blaring, rough sound echoed through within the walls of the fortress.

"However, in times of need you make exception to even your own personal ideal," Sodhi whispered as he cupped his hand over the captains mouth while yanking the young mans head violently towards its side.

He dropped the corpse and with a nod of his head his forces started to run towards the rangers. He breathed in the cold air, his ears tuning to the words from the signal.

_____"__A flow of orgasmic fire, swept through the cosmic night  
I enthroned darkness triumphant, with the searing trident of the Inferno__"_

_____

* * *

_

Trivia

1) The quote in the end was from a Dimmu Borgir song called _Prudence's Fall._

_2)_ Jawan directly translate to _"young man"_ or _"soldier"_ in Punjabi_.  
_


	8. Chapter 7: The Frenzy of the Triumphant

The Kremlin

Moscow, Amero-Soviet Union

October 22, 2552

The warthog fishtailed into the gateway of the massive fortress with its gun smattering a hellish barrage at the bogeys heading towards it. With a sudden jolt, it accelerated into the oncoming horde; its engine screaming at the transmission to change gears, the rpm redlining.

A stream of armoured APC's roared into the path created by the hog, their armoured doors flinging open as a stream of heavily armoured troops thundered out. The shock and awe of the arrival stupefied both quarrelling factions giving the 22nd Guards enough time to engage the enemy.

"Johnston, Get out!" Jeffers exclaimed as he spotted a plume hurtling towards their hog.

Johnston dove out of the hog just in time as the rocket hit the undercarriage causing the whole vehicle to lift off and explode midair.

Jeffers pulled out his side arm as he cracked a couple of headshots at an unfortunate ranger who had lost his helmet in the chaos of battle. He caught a glimpse of the leads APC unleashing its awesome barrage from its 40mm auto-cannon at the adversary who unleashed the rocket. The rounds peppered the red brick of the stone walls, easily penetrating them and gutting and dismembering anyone unlucky to be hiding behind them.

He rushed over to his fellow comrade who was barely stirring from the rough landing. A group of rangers started to rush at him, firing with their MA5C's with precision bursts. He pulled Johnston behind the flaming wreckage, vying for time, with his sidearm ready.

The first ranger jumped over wreckage trying to back flip and catch the KGB agent by surprise. Jeffers acting a split second faster caught the ranger midair and slammed him into the ground simultaneously firing his sidearm point blank into the faceplate of the opponent's helmet, causing a geyser of gore to erupt from the hole.

The second ranger rounded the corner, firing his rifle at the agent on top of his befallen brother. He landed a burst right into the center of the agent's chest causing him to fall onto his back. Cautiously he approached the supposed corpse, trying to make sure the man was actually dead. He spotted the third man in his team moving towards him, watching his back to make sure they wouldn't be caught off guard.

No, something wasn't right, the agent's chest was still heaving; the movements were subtle but noticeable.

"The agent is wearing ballistic armour underneath his coat," the startling revelation came to the ranger, as he moved his rifle to fire at the opponent's skull, not noticing the movement of the fallen man's hand.

Suddenly, Jeffers shot up, grabbing and pushing the rifle away from his body as he brought in the brunt of his hidden combat knife into the rangers neck; the titanium carbide blade easily penetrating the rubber neck joints. With another swift move he brought the dying rangers body in front of his, using it as a shield against the last adversary.

Crouching, he retreated back to the flaming wreckage, hoping to pull the last ranger in close so he could engage him in hand to hand combat, when he heard a thunderous exclamation.

"ALL ENEMIES OF HUMANITY, DIE!" Sodhi roared as he grabbed the unfortunate soldier by his head.

The massive Sikh brigadier swung his opponent up into the air and smashed him headfirst into the asphalt, while bearing his left knuckles into the helmet, crushing right through it and fracturing the unconscious soldier's skull.

A gleam of metal hit Jeffers eyes as he watched the brigadier pull his knuckle out of the torn helmet, clearly the arm was prosthetic. He was knocked out of his train of thought as the line of APC's exploded; the Pelicans in the air were moving against the loyal forces.

"Hey! I thought you were taking care of those damned things?" The Brigadier angrily pointed out the lack of oversight as he brought his prosthetic arm to shield himself from the flaming debris falling down.

"Jesus, I'm on it," Jeffers exclaimed. "Just pass me the damn radio and those fuckers will be out of your cornhole, sir."

--

"_Black Archers, this is Moscow GCI. We have a number of rogue ONI bogies in and around the walls of the Kremlin. You are authorised to use whatever force necessary to take them out."_

"Copy that GCI."

The flight of MIG's was on routine patrol around the greater Moscow region when they received a flash transmission from the Ground Control Intercept. Apparently the flight of Pelicans they had been tracking turned out to be an extremist faction of the ONI.

"Black Archers engage the bandits at BVR, only close in to take out the stragglers," the flight lead ordered. "Go to full afterburners, we'll take out as many as we can the first time and swing around the second for the finish."

The flight of MIG's turned around and in complete unison their engines whined to full military override and they shot towards the center of the metropolis. They streaked towards the ground, their altitude being shaven down by the thousands until they were only a couple of thousand feet above. The sonic barrier being broken caused the ground to shake like there was a minor earthquake, in some places the windows started to shatter due to the massive overpressure.

The audible growl started to go off in the cockpits of the flight, telling the pilots that their missiles had acquired and locked on to the targets.

"Fox Four," the pilots spoke in unison as the planes computers tagged the voice prints and shot out a stream of active radar guided missiles.

--

They heard the aircraft before they even saw them, the thunderous noise of the collapsing sub sonic barrier caused everyone to pause in the fighting and look up towards the heavens. All of them saw the firing streaks hurtle across the sky and crash into the unsuspecting Pelicans, causing them to plummet down towards the massive square, or if they were unlucky, the Moskva. The MIG's screamed across a split second after, their mission being accomplished in less than five minutes.

"SOLDIERS OF HUMANITY! We walk the blessed path set before us, SHOW NO FEAR! SEND OUR FOES TO THE ABYSS!" Sodhi Thundered as he rallied his forces for the final charge. _"Bole So Nihal!"*_

"_Sat Sri Akal, Sri Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Sri Waheguru Ji ki Fateh!"** _The entire Sikh forces cried out in unison as they charged towards the remaining rangers, the Spetsnaz breaking off instinctively.

The rangers started to fire at the oncoming horde of fearless warriors, the bullets bouncing off the ballistic armour, the ferocity of the moment started to wash over them. The smarter, more experienced soldiers aimed for the skulls, trying to take advantage of the turbans the Sikh soldiers wore. Men started to fall, but the immense spirit of the brotherhood did not falter, the horde feared no death because they would rather die than retreat.

The rangers started to retreat, trying to cover each other but all was futile as they were now pressed against the massive stone walls of the Kremlin. The Sikhs in their frenzy started to fire at the enemy, suppressing them all back to the wall; the anvil had been set and the hammer came crashing down as the horde overwhelmed and pounded the rangers of Section IV into the depths of history.

--

"Brigadier, what about the Marshall?" Jeffers asked as watched the last ranger fall underneath the swarm of soldiers.

"Get the Spetz," Sodhi replied as he cocked his sidearm, "We will finish this once and for all."

--

"GAHHH!"

The captain screamed as he watched his right arm fall towards the floor. He was blindsided by the Jedi girl, as had taken aim at the Marshall.

"You Bitch!" Parangosky screamed as she launched herself towards Ahsoka, catching her off guard and tackling her to the ground while knocking the sabre out of her hand."

Windu moved in to break the two apart, he was completely baffled by Ahsoka's irresponsible attack from which Jedi had no business interfering with. He was pulled back by the iron grip of the Marshalls hand, the cold stare of the old man eyes could have frozen all time as he whispered, "What happens is the will of destiny and she has chosen hers," has he pointed his shrivelled finger at the ONI commander.

Parangosky grabbed one of Ahsoka's headtails and pulled with all her might, causing the young Jedi Knight to yelp in pain. With amazing strength for a 97 year old woman, she landed series of punches against the alien girl's face nearly knocking her out of consciousness.

Calling out to the force, Ahsoka unleashed the push against the admiral, causing the woman to fly across the room and crash against the opposing wall of the Chamber of the Presidium. Staggering up, with her head spinning from the yanking of her Lekku, she felt like she was back on the Covenant warship. "Ahsoka my dear, pain is only relative to the mind," she heard the Marshalls voice at a distance, empowering her to focus. "Concentrate on the task at hand, ignore anything else."

With a flick of her wrist she swung the admiral into the air, levitating the admiral and pressuring her throat. Ahsoka then recalled her sabre to her free hand, igniting the green blade of light, ready to impale the demonic woman. She couldn't do it, she couldn't kill her for some odd reasons; she was no executioner, her Togrutan predatory nature was escaping her. She threw the admiral across the room, next to her handless captain and collapsed on the floor.

"Sometimes killing flesh and blood is hard business," the Marshall spoke as Windu ran over to consult Ahsoka. "But we must learn to cope with that feeling in order to survive."

"Too bad, she won't live to see that," Parangosky spoke as she got up, her hand clutching her captains sidearm. "Now you learn why no one ever crosses me," as her finger started to squeeze the trigger.

BANG!

* * *

Trivia

* &** Translation: Blessed is the one who proclaims the Truth of God, the Khalsa belongs to the Lord to whom [also] belongs the Victory

This is the Sikh Battle Cry. Just imagine an army of men crying this out and going into a frenzy.


	9. Chapter 8: Ice Coffin

The images around her started to fade, darkness started to enclose the light as she blinked for the last time. Marshall Zhukov was the last thing she saw, his imposing yet aging figure shining at her, his long greying started end as her knee's collapsed to the stone floor; not a gasp came from her mouth.

Standing over her corpse with a smoking gun in his hand, Sodhi glared at the lifeless figure of Parangosky.

"Looks like I did everyone a favour here. Nobody liked this damned woman," the brigadier spoke as he holstered his weapon. "I'll dump the body into river; let it be her icy coffin."

--

The Enthrone Darkness Triumphant

October 23, 2552

Earth Orbit

"As you can see, the Covenant are amassing their fleet in the Theta Gemini system; a major refuelling stop before, more than likely, jumping to Sol." Cortana informed as she shifted the camera angles from the incoming image feed.

The group of officials suddenly shifted in their seats as a ship floated past on the emitter. The behemoth, jellyfish-shaped cityship completely dwarfed the supercarriers floating past it, easily the size of metropolitan Tokyo.

"Cortana, what is that thing?"

"From my scans of the intercepted Covenant com channels, it appears that this ship is High Charity, admiral."

"The home base of the aliens," Hood quietly whispered. "And all these years we thought that they resided on a planet. The SPEC OPS sure did get their information wrong."

"So they are headed here then…how much time do we have, approximately, Cortana?" Zhukov questioned as he dusted the lightly falling snow from his jacket. "My forces need to be ready to take on those bastards when they arrive."

"I give it three days max, Marshall. What do you have in mind when the Covenant do arrive?"

"Don't worry about me. What does the fleet plan on doing when the time comes? Hopefully they can use the new trump cards to their advantage, though I do not mind getting some ground reinforcement."

"I agree on the last suggestion," Windu spoke as his image winked on the screen adjacent to the Marshalls. "The ground forces stationed here are very specialized; we need at least half the sector army to execute the Marshall's plan successfully."

"What are you trying to pull off Zhukov? Half of the army be assigned to you when you just pulled off an underhanded move on the ONI ranks? This just doesn't sit well with me." Hood answered uneasily, wondering if the Marshall was indeed trying to mastermind a plot for more power.

"The prophet is in my control, and he isn't just one of the random, lower ranked paper-pushing ones; he is a hierarch, and I intend to use him to knock a major blow against the enemy ground forces." Zhukov countered. "The Covenant will most definitely send their best to get him back, so I plan on engaging them and hopefully wiping them clean off of this world."

"Hmm, sounds good to me Marshall. I will bring the 501st and other battle hardened battalions to assist alongside Master Windu; Anakin can stay behind to lead the space forces." Kenobi offered.

"What about the space strategy?" The Marshall questioned again. "I still need to make sure no giant superheated blob of death will fall on top of me and my forces."

"We were reviewing an idealized strategy back in the 24rth century, it involved precision jumps to flank and encircle ships instead of line to line combat," Hood responded. "Since our ships are unable to pull off such precise manoeuvres and jumps, we had to scrap that strategy. However, our counterparts here can, to some degree, pull off precise jumps, as long as they are not too close to gravitational objects and have precise calculations."

"I am sensing some sort of problem with this though." the Marshall stated as he crossed his arms.

"We have to send one of our AI's with the supposed 'hammer' fleet if they are to execute the jump properly," Hood replied while rubbing his eyes from the sudden rush of exhaustion going through him. "We seem to have more superior digital constructs, while they have superior droids."

"I am okay with the suggestion of loaning them an AI," Zhukov replied as he nodded towards the Republic officials." We have our backs to the wall so we will not lose anything more. Hammer out the details regarding the space strategy and I will inquire back within a day to see the progress. I will await the arrival of the ground forces. Good luck gentleman."

--

The Acclamaters touched down all around the outskirts of the metropolitan district; their massive dagger shaped hulls couldn't fit anywhere inside the city. The noise of hydraulic pistons whining to push the actuators filled the sky along with the deep rumbling thuds of the lowering ramps and the massive feet of the landing ships sinking into the wet mud.

The skies had grown dull grey and the weather became morbid. Thunder rumbled through staging area as ice cold rain hammered the flowing traffic of soldiers and vehicles below. Clone Troopers in their eggshell white armour marched in unison as the massive, multi-pedal AT-TE walkers lumbered behind, all moving to the directions given by the masked MPs.

The Marshall watched from afar, the steady stream of traffic increasing as more ships landed and unloaded their cargo. The SPHA walkers were the item he awaited in the cold rain, as the caterpillar legged machines sluggishly came off their transports. These behemoths were the fundamental unit needed by the Marshall to ensure his battle plan would go his way. He needed the Covenant to land outside of the city and proceed inward by land, and Windu assured him that any large unit that got within the SPHA's range would most definitely be destroyed.

He turned around to depart for the Red Square; he was to review the march past being conducted to bolster the spirit of the city and his forces. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Sodhi. The brigadier was practising his swordsmanship with his family double-edged sword. The massive claymore did not gleam the steely lustre of most swords or rust for the ones that were yet to be found but a dull greyish brown of some sort of exotic metal. It had grooves running around the blade, yet the two plates formed a rounded edge.

He had wielded the sword once; the weight itself nearly brought him to the ground, and the rounded edges made it look more like a blunt weapon than a sword. He was wrong on the last fact as Sodhi had showed him the metal piece just exhibited a sort of superheated plasma that, when activated, could directly counter the swords wielded by the Elites.

It was one of a kind, the Excalibur in a sense for Sodhi and humanity. His great forefather, Kulwant Sodhi, had forged it on Mars, the only man in the Sodhi family line that refused to don the uniform of a soldier and had, instead, gone to the sciences. He and his father, Admiral Sodhi had written the unpractised strategy of Precision Envelopment and Annihilation. Too bad when they tried to put it to test, the entire fleet they were in either became atomized bits or was pressed into an infinite voyage in Slipspace. The Sodhi family line inherited the awesome weapon and passed down the generations, not allowing anyone to scrutinize the marvel.

The Marshall watched has Sodhi effortlessly twirled the heavy blade with his hand, smooth elegant movements slashing at an invisible enemy. Sodhi's prosthetic arm still gleamed in his eyes; the man had adamantly refused to get the limb repaired. His memories were starting resurface of that dreadful day when this war got personal for him, but most of all, for Sodhi.

--

"_I was only a Major General back then, life was much simpler and easier plus politics was less of a hassle until the mission was assigned to me."_

Midgard

Sigma Eridanus System

December 5, 2541

The snow storm gusted against the pelicans has they flew to the outskirts of the remote farming village. The order for the pullout had been given as the human forces were getting pummelled left, right, space and ground. FleetCom had picked up a distress call from the community, calling for any aid against the onslaught of the alien hordes.

The frigid temperatures and the snow covered land only exacerbated the morbid situation that was weighing in on the General's shoulders.

The drop ships landed in the center of the settlement, or, at least, what was left of it. The platoon of soldiers disembarked and followed the General. The stench of burning flesh easily overpowered the noses of all the soldiers as they viewed the dismal sight of body parts littering the ground, and gore strewn all over the snow. It seemed like a pack of lions had gotten a hold of the citizens and torn them apart.

They walked for what seemed like hours down the streets, trying to find any survivors or intact corpses that could identify the local citizens. They kept treading along, holding back their fears and sorrows from the sights, until the General stopped dead in his tracks and fell to his knees.

He held in his hands a dismembered head, the cold, black eyes staring off into the unknown, the pale skin lighter than a ghost, the long jet black silky hair still fluttering with the icy cold wind. He held in his the remnants of Sodhi's only child, once the most beautiful person he ever laid eyes upon; Sodhi's angel and his strength had been destroyed.

But where was Sodhi now? The only reason the General had accepted this damn mission was because of Sodhi and his family. The man had to be alive. He had been to hell and back with Sodhi and he knew that his apprentice would still survive.

"GODDAMN IT, SOLDIER! TELL ME THERE IS SOMETHING ON THE SCANNER!"

"Sir, I…," one of the ODST's stammered, not knowing what to say. "Nothing is coming up."

That's when they all heard a noise; it was coming from the stables. Of all the buildings that were charred or burning, this one was left intact. They cautiously approached the building, but the General simply pushed past them and burst in. It was empty save for some horses, still in their stalls.

"Mount up."

"Sir, we don't know how to…"

"I SAID MOUNT UP!"

They would ride until they found Sodhi, or until they found the damn alien bastards who did this.

--

Sodhi was in a rage; he raised his sword like Thor raising his hammer and lashed at the Elite in front of him. The massive, eleven-foot alien dodged the blow, laughing at the furious human, one who had lost everything that was dear to him. The alien toyed with the emotional human, like the Midgard Serpent annoying Thor. Blow after blow, strike after strike was dodged; the lumbering alien was nimble and agile for his size.

They fought for what seemed like an eternity, the alien, with his swords, lashing at the human, and Sodhi returning the favour. Sodhi knew the alien was toying with him, waiting for him to lose concentration, waiting for him to succumb to his exhaustion.

No, he needed vengeance, he wanted to drench the bastard in its own blood, and he wanted to do it now.

He fell to his knees, trying to pull a feint to draw the beast in. He felt it grab his head and raise him off the ground, looking at him while its mandibles fluttered as if trying to say something.

"You are pathetic and weak. Your daughter put up a better fight," the hollow voice echoed in Sodhi's ears. "I shall not feel the same satisfaction like I did when I cut off her head."

The beast raised his free hand to swipe at the limbering human's head, when Sodhi activated his sword and lashed at the alien. His arm was too weak to lift the heavy blade and strike the aliens skull, but it struck the bastard's chest, cutting through the armour and gashing the flesh inside. The alien released Sodhi as it fell to its knees; the serpent was helpless in front of mighty Thor. He raised his sword, ready to strike and kill the alien once and for all when a projectile hit his armour and exploded into thousands of glass shards.

The alien, sensing the moment, picked up its sword and cleanly cut off the sword arm of the stupefied human. Wincing in pain, Sodhi felt a sense of helplessness and rage building within and his missed opportunity fell to the icy ground, waiting for the final blow to arrive. He felt the ground tremble like a minor earthquake was arriving.

He gazed to spot the charge of horseman ram into the horde of aliens, the bullets cutting through Grunts and Jackals while the Elites were pounded by the immense energy of the cavalry. The hooves pounded aliens into their own rainbow coloured gore, as the Pelicans in the sky swooped in, cutting any stragglers down with their chain guns. The Elite in front of him let out a hollow roar as he was suddenly plucked from the ground by a passing alien dropship, which itself unleashed a hellish barrage of plasma. The hussars dodged the incoming wave of superheated gas bolts as the alien ship shot upwards and out of view.

One of the hussars stopped beside Sodhi as he picked the broken man up and draped him over the neck of his horse. Sodhi glimpsed has the man tried to pick up his family sword, struggling and nearly collapsing from the blade's immense weight. Finally able to get the sword into a makeshift sheath alongside the horse, they rode toward the awaiting Pelicans.

The dropships shot upwards into the sky, their engines whining from the extra weight of the horses. The occupants looked outward as they spotted the first of the immense blots of plasma bombard the snow covered ground, and they all turned away as the back doors closed, knowing another battle had been lost, and one man knowing that victory had slipped through his fingers. One day, he would have vengeance.


	10. Chapter 9: The Heroes Code

Moscow

Amero Soviet Union

October 22, 2552

The banners flutter in the cold wind, whipping their colours for all the citizens and legions to see. The gold hammer and sickle superimposed on the red crimson banner brings memories of the blood that had been and yet to be spilled. The soldiers stand rigid; only the hems of their heavy coats fluttering in the icy breeze, their forearms perfectly parallel to the hard concrete, their rifles angled at forty-five degrees, resting on their shoulders.

Two soldiers appear down the concrete path, carrying a wreath. They march slowly, their jackboots digging into the surface, the sound emanating from them echoing into the distance. The Marshall follows the soldiers as a flame grows in the distance, the marble and stone surrounding it reflecting the light to glorify its radiance, to pronounce its beauty and to reflect its purpose.

The Marshall lays the wreath and snaps a powerful salute, honouring the recipients of the wreath, the bearers of the flame, and the protectors of the glorious red banner.

The trumpets blare, and the band plays the hymn, as the crowd and soldiers bellow the anthem of the union. The Marshall, still saluting, gazes down at the bronze inscription being illuminated by the flame. It reads "Имя твоё неизвестно, подвиг твой бессмертен," or roughly translated "Your Name is Unknown, Your Deed is Immortal."

He swallows the lump that has formed in his throat, and his eyelids franticly try to brush away the moisture forming around his eyes. He readies himself for what is about to come; he readies himself to face his people, possibly for the last time.

The last boom from the howitzer echoes away as the band finishes its last note, and the crowd now eyes the Marshall. They stare at him, man to man, general to his soldiers, an inspirational leader to his followers.

He inhales a deep breath and his voice blares over the cold damp air.

"We have been outgunned, out flanked and outnumbered since the war began at Harvest. The ONI has told you that there is nothing to worry about; they have told you the war is far away on some desolate world light years away. But now, I tell you citizens of Earth, citizens of humanity and CITIZENS OF THE SOVIET REPUBLICS! THE COVENANT ARE AT OUR DOORSTEPS." He sees fear grow within the eyes of the citizens.

"They bring a fleet larger than their armada that burned Reach; they bring their capital city to our birthplace so they can watch first hand the destruction of Mankind. They will reap the flavours of victory while we get casted into the shadows of the universe, into the abyss of their mockery and their history.

If our time in this universe has come to an end, then it has, but we cannot be certain. Destiny is forged by our deeds, smelted by our sweat, brought to bear by our strengths and I say that it is time that we show our destiny to our foes. If, and I say if, we find ourselves with our backs against the walls, the odds truly against us, we must still fight on. We will fight until the sea gleams crimson with our blood, until the gore of aliens fill our streets, until our shields splinter and our swords shatter. We will fight so hard that victory to the Covenant will be as bitter as defeat.

Moscow now stands at the forefront of another assault. Like Napoleon who trekked the winter to find an empty city, or Hitler who found a resilient, impregnable fortress to the imperialists who underestimated the heart of the Soviet land, Moscow never fell. IT WILL NOT FALL, WE WILL GLEAM TO THE REST OF HUMANITY THAT AGAINST ALL ODDS, WE SURVIVED. URRAH!"

He walked off the memorial to a thunder of roars emanating form the masses. He had done his job, the truth had been delivered and the spirits of the people had been lifted. He paused before he entered his vehicle, the sound of the people roaring the cry of the Cossacks lifted his heart, and the moisture was now returning to his eyes; he had to bring them victory.

--

Ahsoka cuddled up inside one of the field tents that were deployed by the clones. She could hear the rain slam against the weatherproof fabric but the cold still cut right through. The moisture of her breath rose to the ceiling where it condensed; the atmosphere was dismal.

She felt uneasy about the upcoming battle; the images from the battle to capture the prophet were still fresh in her mind. She barely survived the encounter, the four jawed aliens popping out of nowhere, the massive armoured beasts that shot beams of energy so strong that the overpressure even knocked her master out. Droids were one thing but fighting intelligent creatures was another.

She was well versed in the art of warfare, leading her forces into the thick of battle to emerge victorious. She turned minor defeats into major victories; this was a new chapter for the orange skinned Togrutan warrior.

She needed to talk to someone. Her masters were at the front lines, reviewing the defensive positions, but the Marshall was still here. She heard that he was heading out in the morning. She decided to talk to him.

The rain hammered the ground, causing depressions to be flooded and the drainage systems to be overloaded. Even in the dark, stormy night, the red bricks of the Kremlin stood out as a beacon to all souls.

She flung a thick, wool coat on and headed out, trying to find the old man. The sentries, initially shocked to be talking to an alien as opposed to shooting at her, pointed in the direction they last saw the Marshall heading towards. He wasn't answering any hails on the comm. networks.

She headed towards a step pyramid; the red marble glittered in the rain as the flood lights illuminated the structure. It was shorter than the fortress walls, but it was still a breathtaking mausoleum.

She slithered into the building, not making a sound in the damp, dark corridor. She saw a light at the end and peered through into the room.

The Marshall was kneeling on one knee with his forehead resting on his knuckle; his tear soaked faced was hard to miss. He gazed at the glass casket in front of him; the embalmed body within it was sleeping peacefully.

"They fought so hard, they didn't provoke this hell onto themselves, yet our children die for what?" the old man sobbed gazing towards the ceiling.

"You destined me to protect what you failed to do so yourself, yet you couldn't even forge peace between races; they corrupted our forefathers' teachings, their technology. The parasite is still at large, the containment will not last forever, yet I am powerless to do anything when our children are at the brink of extinction,"

Do not deny them a victory they desperately need, and in midst of all this you send a child, who hasn't even seen the wonders of life. What if I hadn't been there to save her from those freaks? It would have been like holding Raj's child; too young to die, too young to see the horrors I have seen, TOO GODDAMN YOUNG!

I will not run away if this city burns. I will die with humanity, and you can deal with your parasite yourself."

Suddenly he turns and catches Ahsoka standing at the doorway, her face frozen in surprise and bewilderment.

"Child, how long have you been here?"

"Long enough, Marshall," her cold gaze meeting his tear strewn eyes. "What is this parasite?"

"Nothing for you to worry about yet young one. You will find out soon enough, if we survive this battle first."

He grabbed her shoulder and led her out of the mausoleum The rain had let down to a drizzle.

"Let's go review the positions. I believe Windu wants you to command a squad of your republic commandos to aid the Sikh lines, but I want you to help Sodhi instead."

"Why?"

"He has to settle some personal matters when the battle arrives; I need you to make sure he gets the chance without being interrupted."

--

The Magnificent

Earth

October 23, 2552

Wulff Yularen gazed out of the massive viewport in his star destroyer, watching his armada form up for the jump. The tall, yet trim admiral stood at ease as officers and clones alike scrambled orders for the fleet movements.

"Admiral, the fleet is standing by for your orders," the artificial construct spoke as her image flickered on the holoprojector.

"Thank you, Cortana. Have the countdown issued to all ships," he spun around to face her image, his sharp, black moustache quivering as he started again in his midland drawl. "How do you find our systems? Any trouble linking with the mainframes?"

They are quite…..different, I suppose, but nothing I can't link with." Suddenly lines of code rapidly shoot across her body and the colour of her skin starts to turn into a deep purple. "The Venators are reporting in, FTL jump in 3…2…1, engage."

They enter the realm of hyperspace; the majestic curbing lights with black space create an odd sense of solace. As fast as it was initiated, the ships exit hyperspace deep within the

Oort cloud outside of Sol, where the ships would lie dormant until the time for their return called.

--

Outskirts of Moscow Metropolitan Area

Earth

October 23, 2552

The Warthogs drifted to a halt, flinging mud into the air. Surprisingly, the mood was light as the heavy sounds of bass emanated through the cold wet air. Soldiers and clones danced together to the thumping beats of the bass and drums, a classic that the Marshall knew well. He and Ahsoka watched as the soldiers enjoyed themselves, even as it rained, flinging their glow sticks and light emitting batons to the surprisingly moving song that even the Marshall felt like joining the rave.

"Good old Drums of New York," Zhukov thought as his memories went back to when he was young, living life, having fun, wondering if his destiny was truly defined for him.

As he was contemplating the thought, Sodhi showed up, passing a bottle of beer into his and Ahsoka's hand as the brigadier whisked his own down in a gulp.

"Their enjoying themselves I see," Zhukov muttered as he took a quick swipe from the bottle. "It's good to see them unwind, I was going to issue some leave but I don't know when the battle will arrive. Did you start this?"

"Bill over there," Sodhi pointed to a sergeant in the middle of makeshift dance floor. "He is going to have his first born."

The brigadier suddenly flung his arms around the Togruta and the Marshall, "Lets join the fun, and we can discuss the matters you came over with after all this dies down. I gave orders to all the other posts to do the same, let us party today because tomorrow might be our last day."


	11. Chapter 10: The Masters of War

High Charity

9th Age of Reclamation

Slipspace

Xytan 'Jar Wattinree loomed over the massive holo-projectors, the motes of purple light gleaming into his eyes. Even as he stood, hunched over, his figure easily dwarfed everyone around him. His majestic platinum encrusted armour with metal that was rumoured to have been smelted from the armour of Forerunner relics themselves. The imposing high headdress, and the gleaming armour easily signified his rank of Imperial Admiral, supreme commander of all Covenant forces, and he only answered to the hierarchs themselves.

In front of him was a ship speeding towards a star, the hull burned crimson as it dove deeper into its atmosphere while distortions started to appear around it and then the ship vanished. The recording ended as assembly looked back at him, elites and prophets alike.

"Grand Admiral, I do not understand what this recording has to do with our path to salvation," Truth spoke as his hover chair floated out of the shadows. "I was hoping you would be briefing us on a strategy to annihilate the vermin, but I do not see it."

"Hierarch, what I have shown you is the key to our salvation and by the will of the gods, the key to the annihilation of the humans," the massive elite roared as he faced the prophet.

"The Ascendant Justice has been destroyed, the vile barbarians played us into a trap," the irritation started to grow in Truth's voice. "We have already discussed this matter and concluded this matter, why do you bring continue to press on with it?"

"Excellency, I am merely pointing the fact that the humans have shown us how to bypass their defences," Xytan defiantly spoke as he continued to face Truth. "They have shown us that we can use our ships to make jumps into and out of atmospheres and gravity wells. I will personally lead the invasion force to recapture our lost hierarch, and burn the demons into their abyss," his hands clenched into a fist.

"I see Admiral, and who shall command the rest of our forces then?" Mercy croaked as he took his fellow prophet's side. "We cannot be left sitting in the middle, as you command an invasion force to bolster your ego now, can we?"

"The Arbiter can lead the forces," the admiral pointed to the redeemed Elite. "High Charity is perfectly capable of leading and withstanding an assault on the humans."

The entire council erupted in a roar to the Admirals words; the Elites supported their admiral as the Prophets moved against the choice of the Arbiter to lead the space forces.

"Indeed Admiral, let us hope we do not underestimate these creatures," Truth responded as he motioned for silence. "You may lead the assault to rescue our brother but failure will not be tolerated," the shrivelled alien's voice grew darker. "Not only will you be punished, but your entire race as well."

--

State Military Hospital

Moscow Sector

Earth

0ctober 23, 2552

The clear white xenon lights illuminated the observation ward, as two identical beings lay on their respective beds. Outside, peering through the hardened glass, the Brigadier stood as he watched the two aliens sleep in their induced comas, completely devoid of their situation.

He had broken and beaten the prophet more times than he could count and instilled his own wrath deep into the bastards mind. The fear in the alien's eyes caused him to lust for more, when it screamed he grew excited, and when pain completely immersed the prophet, he was in frenzy. He would have killed him after he was done, but his own superiors needed the alien for the greater needs of humanity, therefore he stood on the opposite end of the window looking at the frail figure that seemed to be at peace.

"The operation was a success," the doctor spoke as she walked up against Sodhi, her coat floated majestically down her figure, the piercing blue eyes met his deep black voids. "The device is in the clone and you can set it off remotely or timed, the choice is yours."

"You seem a bit unsettled by the whole notion of this operation," the brigadier inhaled a deep breath as he broke his gaze with her. "You know humanity depends on us to do our part; we cannot survive if we let ethics hold us back."

"But I'm a doctor; my duties are to save lives not to take them, human or alien."

"We are at war, and the bastard that lies in front of us is our enemy," his voice replied with cold bitterness, his breathing was becoming heavy. "If anyone falters in their step, by god I will put a bullet in their head, civilian or military."

"This is not the Raj I knew," the doctor's hand grasped the brigadiers forearm. "He would never harm anything outside of the battlefield."

"That Raj died on Midgard and the one that stands in front of you swings a blade that is black as his soulless heart." His eyes darted to the ceiling as he spoke hoarsely, "And I know who I am because I am an evil man and one day I will face the Gods for my deeds."

"It seems the war as even destroyed civility, especially in the ones that were deemed incorruptible," she turned from him, her eyes starting to fog as she desperately tried to clear them. "Tell me one thing, when did you start smoking?"

"Not many people know about my only vice, one can always get new lungs."

"Lucky for you cloned organs don't break down like the whole package which brings me to the last point," she turned to face him again. "I cannot guarantee a time period for the cloned prophet, we have never done extra-terrestrial cloning before, but act fast."

With that said she walked off into the labyrinth of the hallways as Sodhi called after her.

"Sandy! Get out of this city, I have already lost so much, I don't need to….lose you," the brigadier spoke as he gazed towards the floor, the emotion he felt seemed so out of place and so long since he had felt it.

"That's sweet of you to say Raj," and she walked off into the distance.

--

The structure rose above the observing crowd that had gathered at its base. The Marshall along with his liaisons watched as the pinnacle of the device was lowered into place and the clones feverishly scrambled to push the systems online.

"Sir, the power supply is adequate for the system," one of the faceless clone's sergeants informed the Marshall. "The shield should be sufficient to repel any energy and matter based attacks."

"Most excellent Sergeant, most excellent indeed," Zhukov responded as he stroked his salt and pepper beard. "How do the mobile versions compare to this?"

"They are not as powerful, but they can withstand their fair share, but they cannot prevent vehicles and carbon life from passing through."

Suddenly a clear film erupted from the end of the newly erected mast, as a bubble started to warp and shoot around the city, slowly encasing it.

"Sergeant, can you distort the bubble?" Zhukov questioned as he started to gaze towards the Palace of the Soviets; even that mile high building had been encased within the protective film.

"To some degree sir, why do you ask?"

"Lower the portion around the Palace, just until the shield can leave the roof exposed," Zhukov requested as everyone started to stare at him; clones and humans.

--

Cairo Station

Geosynchronous Orbit

Earth

Fleet Admiral Terrace Hood stood looking outward into the void of space as he tried to swallow the hot tea he held in his hands. He had been on edge since the transmission had come in showcasing the departure of the Covenant fleet from their refuelling stop. The Republic scout droids had served their purpose and provided his forces with a step up to counter the impending Covenant offensive, but it did little to ease his mind. His greenish-blue hued eyes showed signs of stress and wear; the wrinkled and weathered face pronounced his age, even his once crisp white uniform had succumbed to a wreck of crinkles.

The idea of a hot shower and sleep had come and gone through his memories, but the idea of the Covenant popping out of nowhere kept him steadfast to his current position; he needed to be ready when they arrived.

"Sir, the outer posts have detected an anomaly in slipspace," one of the officers manning the scanners suddenly piped.

He displayed the distorted and grainy image of the object while he popped a scaled model of the anomaly detected on Reach. It was huge, easily dwarfing the combined mass of the Covenant fleet that the humans engaged on Reach.

"Ready the home fleet! Alert the hammer fleet to standby for our signal; raise the alert level to DEFCON 1," he ordered with undue haste, as the flurry of activity and adrenaline rose to new levels.

He watched as the space in front of him started to distort slightly, only to be amplified by the second.

"Come on you bastards, let's see what you can do now!" he whispered to himself, only to be interrupted by another officer.

"Sir! There are distortions in the atmosphere,"

"Shit!" Hood though as he spun to see the scans. "How is this possible? Damn, we're being encircled."

"Have the fleet engage the space forces as per plan," Hood ordered frantically, trying to keep the battle plans from falling apart. "Order the orbital stations engage the atmospheric bogies."

"Sir! That would split our forces in two!"

"I know, but it has to be done," Hood spoke as he viewed the first of the shark like ships exit from the realms of Shaw-Fujikawa space.


	12. Into the Darkness of Eternity updated

The massive behemoths roared to life as they lifted their barrels towards the sky; slowly adjusting their sights to the hovering crafts that menacingly made their way/cliche towards them. The Clones moved fluidly inside their machines as they powered up the weapons systems and tracked the latest sight adjustments that streamed in from command.

A shimmering purple hued shield enveloped the regiment's position, protecting them from high yield enemy fire as the alien crafts made their way towards the city's outer defences while their plasma washed over their position.

"Thirty seconds boys," the commander prompted his men to quicken the pace to ready the main cannon.

The coils began whining as they charged up and the colours at the base of the cannons started to darken as the ionized gases began to concentrate within the barrel. The shield flickered off as the regimental SPDT's unleashed their fury of gigaton yield beams onto the oncoming Covenant troopships. Faster than the reflexes of a Spartan, the beams ripped through the night sky, impaling themselves through the alien hulls like hot knives in snow.

While the alien debris tumbled downward from the sky, the more agile small craft roared towards defensive position as the shield flickered back on.

"CONTACT! Incoming bogies," the clone manning the scanner exclaimed. The commander motioned for soldiers to disembark and repel any hostile forces.

They all saw the mass of dropships and fighters come towards them like an angry horde of animals as the Human and Republic flak lit up. In an odd sense, the sight was beautiful: missiles and tracers made contact with the Covenant forces, causing a firework of plasma and phosphorous to illuminate the night skies. Hell indeed was a beautiful place to be.

--

Xytan balanced himself as the Phantom swerved to avoid the flak that was arising from the ground. Half of his landing force had already been ripped apart just approaching the city, so he had called the remainder to land in the outskirts and they would proceed by ground. While his forces advanced to the rear, he was notified that the scanners had picked up a San 'Shyuum life form on top of the tallest human skyscraper; thus his forces rushed to intercept the transfer and rescue the prophet.

The Seraphs that escorted his forces broke formation to fly CAP around the target area as his Phantom approached the base of the immense statue on the roof of the skyscraper.

He and his commandos activated their therm-optic camouflage as they leapt from the small holding bay and soared towards the rooftop while the phantom flew past as if it had not noticed the humans waiting on the roof.

The Elites landed onto the hybrid concrete-titanium structure, their armour absorbing the massive force of the landing as their camouflage started to flicker. As they crept closer to the awaiting party, they noticed that the Prophet lay bound on the ground while being kicked by one of the humans.

Xytan crept close to the nearest target simultaneously activating his sword, cleanly impaling it into the unsuspecting human soldier. All around him, his spec ops deactivated their camo's and started to gut through the guards that were assigned to keep watch on the hostage.

"Hierarch, we must get you off this rock, can you walk?" Xytan shook the Regret as he broke the shrivelled aliens bonds. Not getting a response, one of his Zealots came over and picked up the Covenant leader as they waited for their phantom which was now descending unto their position.

Without warning, a flash of light impacted one of the commando's: his shield flickered and failed while another clear blue mote of light gutted the unsuspecting elite a split second later squarely in the skull, causing it to explode into fragments of bone and brains.

"Get him out of here," Xytan thundered while pointing at the gold zealot carrying the Prophet to the awaiting Phantom. All around him, his subordinates were being pummelled by the horde of lasers raining upon them, as they tried to locate origin of the fire.

He spotted them, the platoon of ARC Troopers descending down upon him from atop of the statue, firing their vast assortments of blasters unto his forces in the open. For some reason they avoided shooting at the hierarch thereby letting him escape unto the awaiting phantom, until one of troopers launched a heavy projectile at the dropships chin turret, knocking any sort of suppressive support offline.

Up above him, the Human and Republic air forces had engaged his escort squadron, as bullets, missiles, plasma, and lasers burned their way through the skies causing an eerie glow to cast upon him.

"The Gods of War have allowed us to cross paths again," the voice reverberated behind him. "Now you awake into your worst nightmare."

--

Sodhi stood with his sword in hand, his head twisted toward the lumbering beast and a sadistic grin grew across his face; the shock and awe of the ambush had caught the Elites forces off guard. The two KGB agents, Jeffers and Johnston flanked him, wearing their standard dress of greatcoats and papakha's in lieu of the battle dress that Sodhi thought would be common sense to wear.

The ARC Troopers touched down on the roof and their grapple lines swung back into their belts as they circled around the Elite, surrounding and forcing him to face the brigadier as Ahsoka broke off from her force and took the brigadiers side.

"Eleven years I waited for this day, eleven fucking long years," the grin dissolved as he clenched his teeth at the alien. "You slaughtered my family and I hunted you down; I had you by the throat, yet the gods allowed you to live."

"Pathetic Human, even if you slay me here your species will be cast to the abyss for we have the prophet," Xytan pointed towards the carrier floating in the distance. "Once he leaves, your world will burn until it is nothing but glass," his fist was clenched in front of Sodhi's face.

"_Admiral, we have the hierarch on board, we are ready to depart,"_ the comm. sputtered as Xytan's mandibles fluttered, depicting a smile.

"Thus spells the end of your race," he growled.

"What makes you so sure that you have the right Prophet?" Sodhi pulled out a cylindrical tube and smirked as he squeezed the pickle on top. A split second later the carrier became a mini sun, forcing all that stared at it to shield their eyes. "He was a doppelganger; the real one is hidden inside the city," the general pointed out as the bright light started to recede.

With a swift move, Sodhi unsheathed his massive claymore and twirled it in his prosthetic hand while squeezing his palm against the microscopic pickles on the hilt, activating the ionized gas around the blade.

The Elite in front of him squeezed down on his two hilts, activating the two clear blue luminescent blades of concentrated plasma and locked eyes with the brigadier, growling under his breath.

In a split second the two lunged towards each other, their blades meeting in between as they tried to gain dominance over the other. In a fluid motion, Sodhi leapt up and kicked the elite in his midriff, knocking the alien off balance.

The two faced off again as they regained their footing. The Elite launched himself towards Sodhi, bringing one of his swords straight down upon the brigadier as the human countered it with his own. The elite began to swing his other blade towards his adversary's neck when his wrist was grabbed by the humans freehand.

Stuck in time, the two tried to counteract each other, the Elite trying to overpower the human who was effectively holding his ground until the alien swung his hind leg and knocked the brigadier off his feet, causing him to crash head first into the ground.

Rolling to his side, the alien's blade infinitesimally grazed Sodhi's backside. Jumping to his feet, Sodhi sidestepped another blow as the Elites momentum carried him forward.

Bearing his sword upon the Elite, he was blocked as the Admiral was able to lock both his weapons onto Sodhi's. Again stuck in a stalemate, Sodhi smashed his prosthetic hand into the aliens face, and struck its midriff with his knee, knocking it to the ground.

The Admiral, sensing the human bringing his sword for the final blow, pushed himself up and grasped the brigadier by his face and flung him against the base of the statue.

With a triumphant roar, the Grand Admiral of the Covenant walked over and raised the brigadier by his neck so they were face to face. "Now I finish what should have been done on that pathetic planet," his mandibles fluttered as he growled to the dazed human. "But, I will grant you an honourable death with my sword."

"Oh hell you will," Sodhi whispered as he tensed his prosthetic arm and smashed the hilt of his sword into the alien's headpiece, cracking it.

With the situation now reversed, Sodhi wasted no time reactivating his sword and slashing both of the alien's kneecaps and causing the Grand Admiral to wail and collapse towards him. As Sodhi raised his sword for the final blow, the heat of plasma washed over his neck; in response he turned his head and spotted the bolt impact the statue.

"CONTACT! CAMOUFLAGED BOGIE!" The clones screamed to each other as they unleashed a hellish barrage of blaster fire into the open.

The lone camouflaged Elite was overwhelmed by the concentration of blaster fire as his shield flickered and failed. The numerous blasts of concentrated lasers caused him to collapse in front of the strange alien girl as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"NOT THIS TIME YOU BASTARD," Sodhi roared, his sword crashed down into Xytan's skull, cleanly slicing right through it.

Sodhi exhaled as he watched the top of the alien's skull fall to the ground. He inhaled the stench of steaming blood: vengeance was indeed sweet.

"Colonels, scan for anymore threats."

"Sir, there shouldn't be anything left from that barrage," one of the agents replied as Ahsoka let out a yelp.

The elite lay at her feet, withering from the numerous blaster shots that had impacted it, but it still lived; a true monument to its species tenacity. The green lightsaber stood only inches from its throat, waiting to cut through the skin and flesh. However, the bearer of the sword hesitated.

"Commander kill him!" Sodhi thundered as malice started to overcome him again. "Commander kill him!"

Ahsoka still couldn't muster the courage and will to execute the beast; the being was flesh and blood like her. She stood frozen as the Elite clung to her foot, coughing blood and dying from the numerous wounds and trauma.

"Why don't you kill him!" the anger started to show up on the Generals face. "Kill him I said."

Sodhi finally had enough and grasped the cuff of her armour and started to yank her, "Kill Him! Why don't you kill him?! It's an order, kill him!" The anger finally getting him, he ignited his sword and cut the elites head off with a swipe as he let go of Ahsoka, who flung around and started to vomit.

"WHY ARE YOU VOMITTING? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? HUH?" the General twisted Ahsoka to face him.

Jeffers grabbed Sodhi by his shoulder and pulled him back, "Maybe she has seen death for the first time Sir!"

"THEN TELL HER TO GET USED TO IT," he screamed as he pointed his finger viscously at her. "SHE IS NO SOLDIER! FORGET KILLING THE ENEMY, SHE VOMITS AT THE SIGHT OF THEIR BLOOD!" he swung his back to her. "AHSOKA, WAR IS NOT WON BY BEING MARTYRED BY THE ENEMY, IT IS WON BY KILLING THEM!" the General stormed off, leaving the KGB agents to console and rectify the situation.

"Johnston, we have to go," Jeffers handed his data pad to his partner moments later. "The Sikh front has lost its shield generator and it is being pushed back: we have to go reinforce it."

"Come young one, the brigadier doesn't hold a grudge for too long," Johnston tugged Ahsoka as the group of Human and Republican forces made their way to the lifts. "He has no heart for the bastards after they slaughtered his family but come now, a new day starts." They stared to the east as darkness fled the rising sun.


	13. With Malice Towards One and All

Moscow Battle Front  
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics  
October 23, 2552

With the blank look in his eyes, Sodhi stared off into the vast emptiness of the void before him, his eyelids not even blinking. His mind wandering off into an infinite loop, pondering and coalescing variables, statistics, and logic like a philosopher lost within his own thought maze.

War was indeed one of humanity's oldest professions, probably as old as, or even older than prostitution.

"What came first," Sodhi pondered, "the whore or the blade? Did Adam pick up the jagged stone when another man challenged him for his woman or did that whore Eve give herself, like she did to that snake?"

In every case, any armed conflict was like prostitution. War was the brothel house and the officers like him were the pimps; the ones who controlled the soldiers like prostitutes and got to fix their rates for the enemy. The greens that sat next to him had it far worse because they were the virgins in this whore house and they were the ones that got paid the biggest dues to be deflowered.

"Conflict," his chuckled to himself, "we can never live without it. All throughout our damn history did we fight each other, either against a common enemy or amongst our inner circles."

Humanity was itself a macrocosm of the Pushtan nomads of the new millennium; fighting off the common enemy that invaded their so called country made up of their rag tag, decentralised tribes or amongst themselves after the invaders left. What would happen if the Covenant sued for peace? Would humanity pursue a course of selfless ideals that would benefit the entire race for the long run, or would the bastards screw themselves again for individual autonomy because culture and traditions were dearer than the wellbeing of the race.

Maybe extinction was the reset button that son of a bitch God could press and try his delusional experiment all over again.

--

Dangling underneath the external clamps of the Pelican, Ahsoka sat shotgun in the Warthog as Johnston started the engine and proceeded to rev it in neutral. Jeffers checked the ammo link to the chain gun housed on the back, making sure it wouldn't jam in the heat of battle.

"Remember kid, this gun can't hit the buggers that try to hijack this vehicle, so we need you to keep us clear of them," Jeffers shouted over the hogs and Pelicans roaring engines.

"Thirty seconds to ditch boys," The cool and relaxed voice of the pilot came through their ear buds. "I have to drop you a bit back, cause the area looks hot."

"Why don't you just drop us on top, blondie?" Jeffers smiled deviously.

"Well, jackass, our boys are in the middle of it too," The pilot hissed back on the private channel. "It wouldn't look too good when a Hog falls on a marine, would it? And how many times did I tell you not to flirt with me?"

"I'm KGB, baby, I can do whatever I want," The grin across Jeffers face grew exponentially.

"Colonel, shut up!" Sodhi stood at the edge of the holding bay as he clipped a line to the Pelican. "You talk more than you shoot."

"Ready for detach," The pilot informed, peering around into the back.

"Do it." Sodhi gave her a thumbs up.

"Launching," the pilot returned it as the Warthog fell free, plummeting to the earth below, as did many around it.

Gunning the engines in unison, the army of Hogs roared towards the top of the hill after the flight of Pelicans.

--

Sodhi slammed his shotgun into his palm and jumped out of the Pelican as it flung around to find a clear area to unload its cargo of fresh soldiers. Not wanting to wait or hike the distance, Sodhi flew towards the ground while the nano-fibre tether slowed his descent.

Ramming into an unsuspecting Elite, he unloaded a shell into the alien's skull, rupturing it into purple shards. He was in the middle of the Covenant battle line, completely surrounded by Grunts and Elites alike, but to him, it was all fun.

Grabbing the headless body, he primed a grenade from his bandolier and clipped it to the alien's armour and flung the corpse towards the nearest cluster of methane breathers he could find. The blast was muffled by the body; however, he was rewarded by the cascading explosions of tanks going off as he turned to face another elite that challenged him.

Bearing his shotgun, he was successfully able to blast a hole in the blue alien's chest as it died mid-sentence from uttering death threats.

The next thing he knew, his feet were off the ground and he was flying forward a few metres. A Zealot behind him roared with rage as it activated the swords in its hands and prepared to lunge at him.

Sodhi tightened his grip on the gun, his index finger tensing on the trigger, as the Saiga shotgun he held in his hand was a semi.

The Elite finished its roar and jumped towards him only to leave Sodhi's vision as a Hog suddenly slammed into the unlucky alien in midflight.

--

"Crikey, that was an epic hit and run, mate," Jeffers voiced over his roaring chaingun.

"What! Are you Australian now?" Johnston retorted back as he pulled the handbrake and swung the wheel, causing Ahsoka to hit the dashboard and Jeffers his gun.

Behind the hog, a trail of grunt bodies and multicoloured purple blood remained as Jeffers unleashed 12.5 mm of repeating hell into the surviving short and stocky methane breathers.

Johnston gunned the hog back to the ridge overlooking the sloping hill where the platoon of Warthogs had set up a defensive firing position. Suddenly, one the stocky aliens managed to cling on the side of the vehicle as it primed a grenade in its free hand.

"AHSOOOOOOKA!" The colonels nervously screamed her name.

"On it!" and the Jedi Knight flung her palm against the alien's chest, causing it to fly off, back into its comrades with the grenade now primed but still in its hand.

--

Moscow Battle Front  
HQ

The fiery streaks of missiles disappeared into the distance as the launch vehicles began reloading for another volley.

The screen in front of Zhukov picked up and tagged the outgoing barrage as he zoomed into the weakened defence sector. The Triumphant had dropped a recon satellite that now held a synchronous orbit over western Russia, providing real-time data to the defenders.

"Marshall, look!" One of his aides called over. "The buggers are converging towards the Sikh battle lines," the lieutenant enlarged the thermal screen, which showed a bloated heat blob making its way towards green ID tags and preset markers.

"Tell the hogs to pull back and prepare the MLRS systems to relocate their barrage," the weary Marshall conveyed as he glanced at the screen that showed a live feed from the battle.

"We cannot spare any for that sector sir." The officer dismally replied, "All the batteries are being used to suppress the rear lines of enemy as per your order."

"Not good, not good at all," Zhukov thought as he drove himself into a thought maze trying to figure a solution to a horrible mess. "Get me the 89th Air Wing in Leningrad; have them initiate the Black Fire Directive in that valley."

"Yes, Comrade Marshall!"

"Pass the pullout order to Sodhi, and have all available tactical airlifts pull them out; Pelicans and Republic gunships." Zhukov frantically motioned. "Octavius! How are the Topol's coming along?"

"The warheads are primed and ready and the engineers were apparently able to boost the yields by swapping the lead with silicon casings but the rockets are still being fuelled, so they will be ready within the hour." The aide quickly replied.

"Most excellent," Zhukov suddenly seemed to relax. "Keep their rear guard suppressed and try to have the air and mechanized forces push the Covies' front lines to regroup."

--

"Pull back! Pull back!" Sodhi frantically flung his arm in the air as he motioned his remaining troops towards the awaiting gunships.

As the battered Sikh lines slowly trickled back, a sudden rain of rockets echoed into the distance as they blew through the Covenant line, creating a brief respite for the defenders.

Responding in kind, the orbs of blue plasma slowly arced through the sky as they slammed into the entrenched positions: blowing, melting and disfiguring anyone unlucky to be caught underneath them.

Sodhi gazed at the battered position as the dirt, glass and gore rained down upon him; a whole line destroyed.

"Where's the girl?" Sodhi frantically gazed, a lump forming in his throat at the dismal thought of her demise. Then he felt it, something within him that compelled him to look over the hill and sure enough she was lying, out cold, at its base.

"Probably the concussion," Sodhi smirked at the thought as he swung himself over the outer trench wall and slid down the muddy slant. Activating a Jackal shield that he managed to capture earlier in the fight, he covered it over Ahsoka and his body as the Covenant force charged with renewed vigour.

The clone captain Rex and his troops started to fire at the approaching masses, as Sodhi contemplated the best way to proceed with the tight situation he was in, when all of a sudden, the superheated bolts started to impact his shield.

He knew it would be impossible to run up the hill carrying a limp body while the horde of aliens would surely gun them down with ease. He still had his claymore on him, and the troops would need time as more plasma and mortars started to impact the position.

"Hey Captain!" his voice thundered up to Rex; "Catch!" his prosthetic hand grappled around Ahsoka's collar and he chucked her up the hill. "Get out of here," he ordered the clones as they caught the knight, "I'll hold em off."

Unsheathing his sword, he faced off against the mass of Covenant troops that ran towards him as their intensity of fire increased.

--

Rex gazed out of the last gunship as it took off, watching the brigadier run to meet his foes as they enveloped around him. He watched as Sodhi engaged the aliens, the general's sword effortlessly cutting through them, the shield that he wielded failing as bolts of plasma impacted his back. The man still fought, a soldier's soldier, fearing no death, no pain.

The gunship swung towards the city center as black specs appeared underneath the retreating sun and grew by the second.

--

The grunt in front of him fell to the ground, minus its head as Sodhi swung his failing shield into the ever-increasing fire of plasma and glass projectiles. He was hurt but he knew his destiny was at an end and that it was his duty to make sure that he took enough of the alien bastards to the afterlife.

Screaming above him, he caught glimpse of the black Sukhoi's as their thrust echoed over the artificial void between the deployed shields. Zhukov's 89th Air Wing; the Secret Air Self Defence Force unleashed their cargo of iron bombs.

"A flow of burning hellfire," Sodhi roared over the collapsing sonic barriers as the bombs exploded into fires of black and blue napalm, deflecting and amplifying off the shields and into the valley. "Swept through the cosmic night, I Enthroned Darkness Triumphant," he threw his shield and drove his sword into the nearest elite, "With the searing Trident of the inferno!" as the black fires washed over him.

--

A storm of rockets crashed into the searing inferno and beyond, decimating the remaining Covenant front lines, pushing them into a rout.

Ahsoka slowly regained consciousness as the gunship made its way into the protective embrace of the city shield and stood by her captain's side, watching together as the rear tactical shields flickered off.

The Topol-Z missiles pushed off their carrier vehicles and lazily arced over the horizon, making their way towards the Covenant landing zones. The mushroom clouds grew out in the distance as the light from the thermonuclear yield cast an eerie glow over the purple hued shields.

She didn't know it yet but the Humans had scored a huge victory as the cream of the Covenant armed forces now lay in ruins.

--

Alexander Gardens  
Moscow  
01:30 Hours

Victory tasted as bitter as defeat to Zhukov while the flame fluttered in front of him. The Covenant were beaten back on such a grand scale by his campaign that even Admiral Cole would have been flabbergasted, but still the Marshall stood with sorrow in his eyes.

The flame casted a glimmering hue on the deep, metallic grey sword which the Marshall held by its blade; the hilt was still firmly grasped by a robotic hand that extended to the supposed elbow line.

"What a way to die, eh…you bastard," the old soldier hoarsely whispered. "Cooking and cremating yourself alive with the damn four-jawed freak shows. Well, it looks like I'll see you on the other side;" he grasped the mechanical fingers, causing the blade to ignite while he drove it into the marble, leaving only the hilt visible. "But not today…not today," the old man walked away as a bone chilling breeze swept through the grounds and caused the eternal flame, its fuel gone, to flicker out of existence.


	14. Epilogue

The Sorias Mountains  
Norway  
October 24, 2552

The wind amplified has it was funneled into the massive fjord, screaming against its stone cliffs. The water below thrashed as if Neptune was thrown into a rage, angrily crashing against the walls of Norway, showering the low flying gunships with mist.

The gunships flew low to avoid detection from the Covenant ship that was supposedly in the area. The pilots confused about the valley that appeared out of nowhere, entombing the squadron as they desperately tried to triangulate their location.

"Sir, we have lost contact with the Triumphant," the clone pilot informed as he navigated the LAAT through a narrow gulley. "We cannot verify our location; I have lost visual of the Covenant ship as we entered the valley."

"Stay on course lieutenant, we are exactly were we are supposed to be," Zhukov replied as he scanned the horizon as if looking for something in the darkened storm blown valley. "Pilot, put on 'Alt Lys Svunnet Hen;' max volume."

The melodic movement of the piano echoed through the gunship's hull, the wind gusting in only shrilled the mood even more. Then out of nowhere, Ahsoka was taken by surprise as the beating blasts of drums and heavy guitars flooded the compartment, completely overpowering the noise of the gales. The demonic screeching of vocals made her stand straight and she could feel her spine start to tense up. She gazed over to the Marshall, who seemed relaxed for the first time since the beginning of the Battle of Moscow.

She clicked on the translator, only to find the most dark and coldest lyrics she had ever heard:

_Glimmering moonlight drifting up above us  
Paths covered with frost leads the way  
Black souls now travel through the night  
In through the valley of fog_

_All has blackened  
All light has faded away  
Pure we now enter the kingdom  
Remembering that our tracks will be followed_

_Surrounded by sorrow's haze  
The journey moves on  
As a band of corpse-dressed ghouls  
We wander the wolverine's home_

_The breeze takes us over Norwegian marshes  
Past every misty hamlet  
With the hate in our angry minds  
We now leave for never to return_

"Marshall, what was the purpose of that song?" Ahsoka questioned as the harmonics started to fade.

"It brings peace to my mind young one, and it also makes me focus, it channels all my thoughts, my energy and my will into one," the Marshall stated as he awaited another track. "The translation of the song name as you know is 'All Light has Faded Away' and it reminds me of the dire predicament my species are in. Also, take a look outside, all the light has faded away, the storm has come and we must weather it. Not only that, we must complete our tasks under such conditions and with that done, only then shall we receive true glory, true honour, and most of all hope."

Ahsoka stared out of the gunship lost in the realms of the entrancing music and the dark ghoulish view of the cliffs. She could hear thunder, and it grew as the ships approached the epicenter of the storm. Suddenly, a flash of lightning illuminated a dark fortress on a plateau right in front of the approaching party. Another flash only enlarged the panorama of the fortress; the dark grey walls rising above the cliff face, the stone buttresses flew menacingly outward.

"Pilot, have the gunships land over there," Zhukov ordered as he pointed to a hole in the opposing cliff face, only this one was recessed so a platform stuck out.

The gunships swooped in and landed and unloaded their passengers, a squad of clones along with the Black Guard Spetsnaz made way for the Marshall and his accomplice to walk by. They all stared into the black void within the cave as the uneasy tension started to rise. The sea thrashed a couple of hundred feet below them, ready to swallow and wipe their existence for all eternity.

--

Ahsoka woke to a hazy image, her eye sight slowly focusing to her surroundings. She stumbled to get up, her legs felt like lead and her head throbbed like someone had smashed a hammer unto it. Feeling for her lightsaber, she found it, still magnetically grappled to her armour.

The green blade menacingly shot out and illuminated the surrounding void, she saw no one, only a dark path in front of her and a hole behind her that led to a gaping black abyss. Not having any choice, she set out to the path before her, slowly moving into the dark as her lightsaber started to fizzle as it suddenly died.

After she walked for what seemed like hours, she heard low rumbles echoing from the distance. Her pace quickened as the rumble grew to what seemed like bass drums, she could feel the vibrations in her body now. After a few minutes, she saw a light appear in the distance, and for some unexplainable reason, she ran to it.

The light grew in intensity as well as its size, until Ahsoka found herself standing on a ledge peering into a golden hall shrouded with fog and mist, the smell and taste of seawater overwhelming her senses. Suddenly, the ground underneath her gave way and she plunged a few dozen meters into a pile of rubble, but for some odd reason she was still able to stand, she had no injuries at all.

"I welcome you my child," a hollow baritone voice echoed through hall, "to my humble residence."

"Who are you?" Ahsoka questioned as she tried to find the speaker of the voice. "Why am I here? Where are the rest?"

"You are here because I need to speak with you. Do not worry about the rest, they are safe," the voice echoed with some assurance. "I need you Ahsoka Tano to finish what I could not finish, to fix an anomaly that my species inadvertently created, which forced my children to create a solution that inadvertently caused this war that you fight in now."

"Why me? Why not someone else, someone who can actually figure out what is going on." Ahsoka voiced into the empty hall. "I don't know who you are, but how the hell do you know me?"

"Why shouldn't I know you Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic, former padawan learner of Anakin Skywalker, secret lover of Rex; a clone trooper."

"How in the force do you…," Ahsoka spoke up to only be cut off.

"I could never fully leave the confines of this space, trapped for all eternity as a punishment for my sins unless they were forgiven, but my mind could travel the universe, seek a redeemer who could fix what I failed to resolve, and I studied you." The fog started to thicken as it shrouded around the Jedi. "I created the sequence of event that led to your arrival to this galaxy, to the Marshall, and to this place."

"You sacrificed so many good lives, brought hell and fury to so many innocent people, just for me to meet with you," her voice started to rise. "I'm surprised, your thinking is so arrogant, so self righteous yet you have so much drive. It is unthinkable to think that someone with so much power as you could create such sorrow and suffering, being confined here is such a waste, plus you know all about me. Who the Hell are you?"

"You still haven't pieced it together? Come now AH-SO-KA TA-NO," the voice enunciated every syllable. "Surely there can't be an overabundance of people dwelling within your memory, burning with this overwhelming egotistical rightfulness," it spoke as the fog that shrouded the golden hall started to collect in the middle. It formed into a head and it suddenly took shape of her master, Anakin Skywalker, and then it shifted to Obi Wan Kenobi, then to Mace Windu, Yoda, the entire Jedi Council, the prophet, Sodhi and finally it settled on the Marshall. His face was drifting in midair as the mist slowly morphed for the last time to her mirror image, the cold blue eyes staring right back at her, forcing the young Togruta to gasp.

"I have synchronized myself with countless consciousnesses over the eons, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise that your deep dormant sub consciousness has come to life," the voice echoed as the fog slowly dissolved to show an outline of a figure in the distance. "I, Ahsoka Tano am a Precursor; my species seeded life throughout the universe. We are what the humans call gods, your Jedi teachings call the force; we are the vanishing mediators that have had an active hand in these societies that have succeeded ours," the voice whispered as the figure closed in to her, the shadow lifting from his face to reveal the Marshall standing in front of her.

~Q.E.D~

* * *

Authors Note:

So ends this series thus I would like to thank all the readers that have enjoyed and commented on this tale. Blueprints are being drawn for a prequel series as the sequel will take time to create.


End file.
